


Paths realigned

by Bl4ckHunter



Series: Paths realigned [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Old bonds, Redemption
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:41:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 30,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22116541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bl4ckHunter/pseuds/Bl4ckHunter
Summary: When Oliver calls in old friends and enemies for help to save his friends and family, he starts to reconsider his journey as a hero.
Relationships: Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak, Oliver Queen and John Diggle, Oliver Queen and William Clayton, Oliver Queen/Sara Lance
Series: Paths realigned [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1609057
Comments: 47
Kudos: 29





	1. Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver calls in allies to take on Chase, when he kidnaps Oliver's friends and family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of a lot of plot bunnies I had been planning but I don't plan on making this story very long. It's most likely going to cover just the Season 5 finale up until the Slade arc in Season 6 but I'm not gonna cover much of Season 6 has done, if at all, in the show except for the Slade arc because of how stupid the season in general was and it turned Dinah, Rene and Curtis into insufferable characters. I softened around Rene and Dinah in Season 7 but don't get me started on Curtis.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or the CW TV shows Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl or any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.

Oliver and Malcolm heard the computer bleep as Malcolm turned to it. "Are you expecting someone?"

"Yes, I am." Oliver confirmed. "Because Chase is working at least with Black Siren, Evelyn Sharp, Talia al Ghul and whatever army she's currently controlling."

"So you called in reinforcements." Malcolm smiled. "If I wasn't such a confident individual, my ego might be bruised."

"Malcolm, your ego is what I'm gonna need you to keep in check." Oliver cautioned as Malcolm turned to him as the smirk vanished from his face.

"Why? Who did you reach out to?" Malcolm demanded.

The door to the elevator opened and Malcolm immediately glared, his blood boiling as Nyssa went out. "Husband." Nyssa greeted as Oliver nodded before she turned to Malcolm. "Mr. Merlyn. I assume you still have no title."

"No." Malcolm snapped as he turned to Oliver, who sighed.

"Malcolm—"

"I will not work with her." Malcolm said angrily, shaking his head.

"I told you." Nyssa pointed out.

"I'd sooner slice her throat." Malcolm growled.

" _Try to_ , you mean." Nyssa taunted.

Oliver turned to Malcolm. "Malcolm, you said you were willing to do whatever it takes to get Thea back. So, here we are!" He reminded angrily.

"Fine. But does she know?" Malcolm pointed out.

"Know what, Mr. Merlyn?" Nyssa asked with narrowed eyes.

Malcolm turned to her, smirking. "One of the people we're up against, is your sister."

Nyssa sighed and shot Oliver a glare.

"Nyssa, I wanted to explain it to you in person." Oliver said before they heard the computer beep as they approached it. "We have Chase's C-130. Flew out over the coast, banked southerly 12 degrees, which… which means…" He trailed off as the realization hit him.

"Which means?" Nyssa inquired.

"I know where he's taking them." Oliver realized before the elevator bleeped again and they all turned around to see a blonde woman and a young man, who both smiled.

"Hey." Sara said.

"Beloved." Nyssa said with a smile on her face.

"You said that you needed help. What's going on, Oliver?" Roy asked.

* * *

The plane flew towards Lian Yu as Oliver piloted it.

"Why did your adversary bring them here?" Nyssa asked.

"For that matter, how did he even know about this place?" Malcolm added.

"Talia." Oliver explained as Nyssa sighed, realizing it made sense. "She researched me, probably told Chase everything."

"Ironic. When I was a little girl, my father told me to visit this place. It's where I found you." Nyssa said, looking out through the window at the island as Sara shivered, remembering when she had told Ra's to send Nyssa, when she was stranded in 1960.

"Kind of fitting place." Roy said.

* * *

The bags were removed from their heads as Felicity, Diggle, Curtis, Quentin and Thea were on the ground, chained up.

"Diggle? Felicity?" Curtis asked.

"We're OK. You OK?" Felicity turned to the rest.

"We're fine. A little north of pissed off, though." Quentin grumbled.

"Rene, Dinah, where are they?" Diggle looked around.

"Not with us." Thea grumbled.

"Relax, enjoy the weather." Chase said casually as he neared them with Earth-2 Laurel, also known as Black Siren and Talia's acolytes, while everyone shot him a glare. "Miss Smoak."

"Anybody ever tell you how much you suck at life…" Curtis trailed off as one of Talia's students neared a blade to his throat.

"No. Care to be the first?" Chase challenged.

"Why are we here?" Thea demanded.

"So you recognize this place." Chase smirked. "That's good." He walked off as Thea glared at him.

"Oliver is gonna come for us!" Thea yelled.

"Yeah, I'm counting on it, sis!" Chase called back.

"Damn it, Chase is using us as bait, he wants to draw Oliver out." Diggle groaned.

"The numbers aren't exactly in his favor." Quentin pointed out.

"He's faced worse odds before." Felicity said hopefully.

"Yeah. With the help of you and John. Roy, Laurel and Thea. The rest of us." Curtis said lowly.

"Curtis is right, Oliver can't do this alone." Diggle agreed.

* * *

"I can't believe we're seriously doing this." Sara said as they opened the door to the prison as Oliver had in his hand a duffel bag and dropped it and took a breath, facing the man they had thought they would never have to see again.

"We need your help." Oliver said.

"Hey, kid. I'm glad you came back." Slade said as he smiled at Oliver.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before any of you start arguing, I'm ignoring the stupid cliffhanger in LoT because of how frustrating the show has become since Season 3. Let's just say Sara left the Legends at the end of Season 2 and there's no "timeline shattered" since don't get me started on how the show ruined one of my favorite female characters in Arrowverse.
> 
> Plus, I understand Colton Haynes had some scheduling issues that prevented him from showing up in Invasion but it's dumb that Roy wasn't either kidnapped by Chase or recruited by Oliver in Season 5 finale.
> 
> So, what do you guys think? Is it good? Is it bad? Should I continue?
> 
> Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.
> 
> With regards
> 
> Bl4ckHunter


	2. Lian Yu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver faces off Chase and his men on Lian Yu, uniting some of his friends and enemies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or the CW TV shows Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl or any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.

Slade got up as he looked at Oliver and Sara in surprise. "What brought you two back on the island?"

"Like I said…" Oliver approached the cell and put the key into the door, unlocking it. "We need your help."

"What the hell is going on here?" An A.R.G.U.S. guard demanded as he appeared from around the corner.

"We have a problem and you need to leave the island now and we're taking him and Digger Harkness." Sara explained.

"I'm not going anywhere and neither is he." The guard said firmly, like a loyal soldier.

"There is an A.R.G.U.S. supply boat that is docked on the eastern shore. You take it, and you go." Oliver said.

"I'm not abandoning my post." The guard said slowly, as if Oliver was stupid.

"Suit yourself." Oliver sighed before he punched the guard, knocking him out as he fell down and his gun slid down across the floor before they heard the door close and turned around to face Slade, who went out from his cell.

"Would you like to explain what's going on?" Slade demanded, not understanding.

"We'd like to talk about you for a minute." Oliver said as he and Sara looked at Slade warily with guarded eyes. "You seem…"

"What, in possession of all my marbles?" Slade drawled as Oliver and Sara nodded. "The Mirakuru wore off a long time ago, kid. I mean, I remember everything that happened. I'm not trying to escape that but it feels like some bad dream." Oliver and Sara watched Slade with narrowed eyes and saw the remorse clear on his face. "Now, regardless of my sanity, why do you want to help me? After everything I've done?"

Oliver sighed. "There is a man on the island named Adrian Chase. He's holding our friends and our families hostage, including Thea… and my son."

"Since when do you have a son?" Slade asked, disbelieving.

"Slade, are you gonna help us or not?" Sara asked.

"I think I'm stating the obvious when I say I killed your mother. And I also tried to kill your sister." Slade said as he turned to Sara. "For that alone you two should've killed me."

"Maybe what's happening right now is the reason we didn't." Oliver admitted as he pulled out a flash drive. "This is all the intel that I've been able to gather on your son Joe, including his present whereabouts."

Slade glanced at the flash drive in contemplation, disbelieving what were his sworn enemies offering him. "Are you offering to help me find my son?"

"I want us to find both of our sons." Oliver said as he pulled out from the duffel bag a helmet that Slade immediately recognized and stepped back at the sight of it, remembering the horrible things he had done as Deathstroke.

"Slade. As much as I still hate you for what you've done to us, I know that once upon a time, you were a good man. We're giving you a chance at redemption, since I think that all of us here are looking for it. What do you say?" Sara asked and Slade considered before he picked it up.

"You two and me, kid. Like old times." Slade said.

* * *

Nyssa, Malcolm and Roy were unloading the weapons from the plane.

"You know, if we're gonna fight side by side, you're going to at least speak with me." Nyssa said.

"I know, it's awful." Malcolm drawled.

"Pity." Nyssa said as she got up. "By now I thought you'd realize that by disbanding the League of Assassins, I freed us both."

"Are you looking for applause? Clapping is a little more difficult for me these days." Malcolm said, showing his robotic hand in sarcasm.

"Looks like I missed a lot over the past year." Roy noted.

They stopped as they saw Oliver, Sara, Harkness and Slade in his Deathstroke suit.

"Have you offloaded the supplies?" Oliver asked.

"Most. Guns and ammo are still on the plane." Malcolm said as Oliver opened the crate with his Green Arrow suit. "By the way, what do you need an RPG for?"

"Well, like I said, Chase has Talia, an army of her students, Evelyn Sharp and a metahuman." Oliver said. "I have no interest in this being a fair fight."

"Can't believe we have to fight my sister's evil twin." Sara muttered.

"Is that why you released these animals from their cages?" Nyssa eyed Slade and Harkness warily.

"Oh, come on, luv. That is no way to start a new friendship." Harkness eyed Nyssa lustfully.

"Oh." Sara muttered, knowing what was going to happen next.

Nyssa neared him and shot him a glare. "Look at me like that and I'll feed you your eyes."

"You're not her type anyway." Malcolm added.

"All right, that's enough." Oliver intervened. "Let's offload the rest of the—"

They heard whooshing as a rocket sailed through the air and destroyed the plane on which they arrived.

"Hoo, so much for our gear." Harkness muttered.

"There goes our ride home, kid." Slade said dryly.

* * *

Nyssa and Malcolm went to check out the RPG site while Oliver, Sara, Roy, Slade and Harkness walked down the forest.

"Why does he get a weapon and I don't?" Harkness demanded.

"I trust him more than you." Oliver said.

"Didn't he kill your mother?" Harkness pointed out as Oliver whirled on him.

"You listen to me very carefully. You help me take down Chase, you walk. You screw with me even a little bit and I will put you right back into that hole." Oliver warned, glaring.

"Just a gun, is all I'm saying." Harkness said.

"Kid." Slade called out as Oliver, Roy, Sara and Harkness approached him. "I see movement." Slade said as they saw Felicity, Thea, Samantha and Curtis in cages, the same ones, in which Oliver was imprisoned when the place was Fyers's encampment.

"Stay sharp." Oliver instructed as they neared the hostages.

"Oliver!" Felicity said.

"Roy!" Thea exclaimed.

"Keep your voice down." Slade said lowly.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Thea demanded, glaring at Slade as soon as she noticed him.

Oliver neared Samantha. "Where's William?"

"I don't know, we were separated. Oliver, what is going on?" Samantha demanded.

"Why are they unguarded?" Slade wondered.

"It seems pretty obvious to me, mate." Harkness said and on cue, Talia and Evelyn descended from above they whirled around, with Oliver and Roy reaching for their quivers and Sara for her batons, while Talia and Evelyn did the same. "It's a trap." He finished.

"Don't even think it, Oliver or your son loses his mother." Talia said, aiming at Samantha.

"Oh, and don't worry about that gun, mate." Harkness said as he pulled out a gun from his coat. "Mr. Chase gave me this nice new one. Along with a better offer."

"Adrian said it would be pointless to reach out to you." Evelyn said as she looked at Harkness.

"Although, given this turn of events, perhaps you've changed your mind?" Talia questioned.

"What's it gonna be, Slade? Care to side with the winners?" Harkness asked. "What's it gonna be, mate?"

Slade considered for a moment before pointing at Oliver. "Put a gun to his head." Slade said as Oliver and Sara shot him shocked and dirty looks. "Sorry, kid but there's no giving up to these guys."

Oliver recognized the words and realized what was Slade up to before turning to Sara and gave her a look, hoping she would get the message before she nodded subtly as they put down their weapons, while Harkness, Evelyn and Talia smirked, basking in their "victory" and Evelyn neared the gun to Oliver's forehead.

"I assumed you'd want to be on the winning side." Harkness smirked as Slade approached him.

"Assumption is the mother of all failures!" Slade said before punching Harkness, who staggered back.

Oliver grabbed Evelyn by her hand and disarmed her, using the same move Slade had taught him, when they first met. Talia fired an arrow at Samantha but Sara quickly picked one of her batons and blocked the arrow.

Harkness pummeled Slade but Slade was unfazed due to his armor protecting him. Slade grabbed Harkness by his head and threw him down as Oliver and Roy picked up their bows and notched arrows.

"Sister!"

Talia turned around to see Malcolm and Nyssa notching arrows at her. They seemed to be in a stand-off and considering that Evelyn was taken down and they were outnumbered, Talia did a throwing motion to the ground and an explosion followed and when the smoke dissipated, Talia and Harkness had vanished.

Malcolm neared Thea, opening her cage. "You OK?"

"Go to hell." Thea sneered as Oliver, Slade and Roy let Samantha, Felicity and Thea out.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'." Malcolm shrugged.

"I can't believe you're here." Thea said, hugging Roy tightly.

"You've been left behind. You should choose your friends more wisely." Slade pointed out as he put Evelyn into the cage.

"Where is everyone else?" Oliver inquired.

"Not sure. Chase split us up into groups when we got here." Curtis said.

"We are gonna talk about that, right?" Felicity demanded, pointing at Slade.

"Yes. We're gonna talk about that. Right now, we need to focus on finding the others." Oliver said.

"I'm seriously glad you guys are here." Felicity said as she turned to Sara and Roy, while Oliver neared Evelyn.

"Where are they?" Oliver asked.

"I wish I knew, so I could tell you to go screw yourselves." Evelyn sneered.

"Why are they all separated?" Sara asked.

"Why does Chase do anything? So far, he hasn't laid out a single hoop you could keep yourself from jumping from. Maybe leaving me was part of the plan." Evelyn taunted as Sara glared.

"Your parents would be ashamed of you, if they could see you." Sara said. "You hate Ollie for what he had done, when he was trying to protect innocents, yet you and Chase killed dozens of more people, who were innocent, just to spite Ollie. You're a hypocrite and monster."

Evelyn glared but Sara was unfazed as Oliver turned to Thea, Felicity and Curtis.

"How did Chase get you here?" Oliver asked.

"A plane." Felicity said.

"Do you think you can find your way back to it?" Oliver asked.

"Yeah, probably, but…" Curtis trailed off before Oliver turned to Malcolm.

"Malcolm. Can you fly a plane?" Oliver asked.

"If it's anything like the three Gulfstreams I used to have, yes." Malcolm said.

"Take them to the mainland and come right back for us." Oliver said.

"We are not leaving you here!" Felicity protested.

"Look, we need to get you to safety and stop Chase." Sara said and Felicity nodded, knowing Sara was right.

"Despite my better instincts, when this is all over, I will come back for you." Oliver said, turning to Evelyn.

"When this is all over, you'll be dead." Evelyn said.

"Can I talk to you for a sec?" Thea told Oliver.

"Yeah." Oliver said as they went aside.

"OK, what the hell are you doing?" Thea demanded, once they were outside the hearing range of others.

"What do you mean?" Oliver asked.

"I mean, Slade Wilson and Malcolm Merlyn."

"Thea—"

"No. We are orphans because of those two."

"You know what I'm up against here." Oliver pointed out.

"Yeah, so why are you sending Curtis and I away?" Thea begged.

"Because I need the two of you and Roy to keep Felicity and Samantha safe." Oliver said. "We need to get them off of the island."

"OK, Curtis and Roy can handle it." Thea protested.

"I understand if you don't want to go with Malcolm." Oliver said.

"Damn right I don't." Thea said.

"And I do not want to rely on Slade Wilson." Oliver added and Thea nodded. "There's nothing about this situation that's ideal, Thea. I need your help, Speedy and this is how you help me."

Thea considered before nodding. "OK."

"OK." Oliver said.

"My sister and Harkness fled into the forest. We can track them." Nyssa said, once she showed up.

"They might lead us back to the hostages." Slade said.

"They're our friends and we don't need your help." Felicity sneered.

"Felicity, we're outnumbered and we need all the help we can get." Oliver pointed out and Felicity shot him a glare.

"Get them to the plane. Make sure they're gonna stay safe." Oliver ordered and Malcolm nodded before Oliver handed Curtis the comms. "Comms. Just in case something goes wrong."

"You mean when, right?" Curtis corrected as Oliver handed Felicity the tablet.

"Detailed satellite imaging of the island. Again. Just in case." Oliver said.

Felicity nodded. "Be careful."

* * *

"The trail has gone cold." Nyssa said as they went down the forest.

"Are you sure?" Oliver asked.

"No doubt my sister knew we would follow." Nyssa said. "Let me go on ahead, see if I can pick up the trail."

"OK." Oliver nodded.

"I'll stay with them. Just in case." Sara said, still not trusting Slade as Nyssa nodded, while walking off.

"So, instead of marrying the blonde, you marry Ra's al Ghul's daughter?" Slade questioned and Oliver sighed in annoyance, while Sara chuckled, amused.

"Nyssa talks too much." Oliver muttered.

"She hasn't explained your beef with Chase." Slade said.

Oliver sighed. "My past is coming back to haunt me."

"Seems to be a recurring theme with you, kid." Slade pointed out.

"I don't know why." Oliver admitted.

"Well, it's not really that complicated." Slade said, stepping in front of Oliver and Sara. "You suffer from survivor's guilt. You can't get over the death of your father."

"Adrian Chase has nothing to do with my father." Oliver immediately protested.

"Ollie, if there's something I know for certain about you, everything has to do with your Dad." Sara pointed out.

"Sara is right, kid. You and I are not dissimilar." Slade pointed out and Oliver sighed. "We're all haunted by our pasts and the only way to bury that ghost is by forgiving yourself."

"Forgiving myself. For what?" Oliver questioned, as if he wanted Slade to humor him.

"You blame yourself for your father's suicide and everything else that has gone wrong since. You need to forgive yourself for your sins." Slade said.

"You say that like it's easy." Oliver scoffed.

"It's not. It's the hardest thing you'll ever have to do in your life." Sara said, with a faraway look in her eyes and as Oliver looked at her, he suddenly understood. Sara left him not only because she was afraid of her inner darkness but because she couldn't forgive herself for her sins and the same was going for Slade for what he had done, while under the influence of the Mirakuru.

"If you're done relaxing, I've picked up the trail." Nyssa said.

* * *

As Curtis, Thea, Felicity, Samantha, Malcolm and Roy walked down the forest, Roy overheard Felicity complaining she was not consulted with sending William away.

"Sorry, why would Oliver consult you in the first place?" Roy pointed out and Felicity shot him a look. "Don't get me wrong, you had a right to be upset but last I checked, just because you were engaged to him, it didn't mean you had any say in William's life, since you're not his parent, either legally or by blood." He said, not ungently but yet, Felicity felt like she had been punched in the gut.

"Yeah, you're right." Felicity sighed, realizing Roy had a point. "Sorry, that came out wrong and selfishly. I mean… it was a blow that was hard to shake off. It's just… it was complicated."

Then they heard 'click' as Thea froze.

"Thea. You OK?" Curtis asked as she looked down.

"No, she's not. She just activated a landmine." Malcolm said as Thea paled, seeing her foot on a mine. Malcolm knelt down, checking the mine. "Don't move. The trigger's rusted over."

"That… that's good, right?" Thea stammered, trembling. "That's a good sign?"

"No. That's really bad news. That means we can't disarm it." Curtis said.

"Well, somebody needs to do something." Samantha said.

"Thea. On the count of 'three', take your foot off the mine." Malcolm instructed.

"No, that'll blow us all up!" Felicity protested.

"I'm gonna take her place." Malcolm explained.

"That's crazy!" Samantha protested.

"Yeah, you're not the first one to call him that." Felicity muttered.

Curtis attempted to protest. "I'll just find a boulder around here or something—"

"No, we don't have that kind of time!" Malcolm said. "Thea—"

"No one is doing, this, OK?" Thea protested.

"It's alright. It's alright." Malcolm said, apparently giving in as he got up. "I forgot how stubborn you could be." Suddenly, he pushed Thea away, replacing her foot with his on the landmine as everyone stepped back, expecting for the mine to go off. "Thank you for reminding me."

"Uh, we've got company." Roy said, seeing Harkness and Talia's students.

"Alright, go quick. Get her out of here. All of you, go!" Malcolm ordered as they ran off.

Harkness and Talia's men neared Malcolm. "What happened to the rest?"

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you."

"Oh. Well, you don't seem to bright. Out here, standing out in the open like this. What kind of ass backwards strategy is that?" Harkness said.

"This!" Roy said, firing an arrow that hit the ground and exploded, sending Talia's men flying away. Malcolm used one of the dead students and replaced his weight by putting it on the landmine and freeing himself as Harkness fell down, while Roy and Malcolm neared him, aiming arrows.

"Who's the winning side again, Mr. Harkness?" Malcolm challenged and Harkness considered.

* * *

"I can't believe that thing is still here." Sara said as they saw the wrecked fuselage of Slade's plane.

"This place brings back memories." Slade said.

"Feels like a lifetime ago." Oliver said.

"For Shado, it was." Slade said.

"No time for nostalgia. I know where they are." Nyssa said, handing Oliver the goggles as they saw the monastery in the distance.

* * *

"Do either of you know anything about this place that would give us a tactical advantage?" Nyssa asked.

"I've seen it only one time and that was from a distance." Oliver said.

"Well, maybe we should split up." Slade said.

"Should we?" Nyssa questioned, turning to Sara and Oliver.

"Go, Nyssa. We'll be fine." Oliver said as Nyssa walked off.

"You two don't trust me." Slade said, turning to Sara.

"Can you blame us?" Sara scoffed.

"No." Slade said before punching Oliver, knocking him out as Sara glared.

"I knew it, you son of a—"

Slade hit Sara in the face, knocking her out too as Black Siren entered with Talia's men.

"Tell Mr. Chase I have a gift for him." Slade said to Black Siren, who smirked at seeing knocked out Oliver and Sara.

* * *

Oliver and Sara, in shackles, were brought to Quentin, Diggle, Rene and Dinah.

"Oliver." Diggle said.

"Baby girl." Quentin whispered.

"Don't blame me. Mr. Wilson is the one, who gets credit for these trophies." Black Siren said.

"Slade. You son of a bitch." Diggle said, glaring at him.

"I never should have trusted you." Oliver growled, glaring at Slade too as they walked away.

"Are you alright?" Quentin asked.

"We're fine." Sara assured him.

"Where's my son?" Oliver asked.

"William? Chase took him too?" Diggle demanded.

"We didn't know anyone else was here." Dinah said.

"What makes you think he's here?" Quentin questioned.

"He took Samantha and he showed me the video of William. He is on the island, somewhere, and we need to find him." Oliver ordered.

* * *

"I think I can fly us out of here in that thing." Malcolm said, eying Chase's plane.

"No." Thea said.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, honey." Malcolm said sarcastically.

"No, it's not that." Thea said as Roy and Curtis dug out some device from the ground.

"Are those antennas?" Samantha asked.

"Yup and that's C4." Thea said.

"This is way too many antennas for a remote trigger. They must be networked." Curtis said.

"Great. So, there's more than one." Thea snapped as Felicity looked at the tablet, horrified.

"Yeah. You could say that." Felicity said.

"There's hundreds." Thea said, seeing the satellite imaging of Lian Yu.

"Way too many to defuse." Curtis nodded.

* * *

"Alright. Let's get out of here." Oliver said.

"I think Wilson did something to your head, when he knocked you out." Quentin said, when suddenly, Oliver freed himself from the shackles.

"Talia didn't teach me how to free myself from the shackles, so Chase thinks I'm trapped. But Ra's taught me." Oliver said.

"Why didn't you use that, when Chase got to you?" Dinah questioned.

"Had to know what was he up to." Oliver said as Sara freed herself too and Oliver handed Dinah some collar device.

"Curtis worked this up for Dinah. It's gonna control your Canary Cry and it's gonna bypass the sonic dampener." Oliver said.

"Oh, I love that, Curtis! This may hurt a bit." Dinah said, putting on the collar.

"Just sing, Canary." Rene quipped.

"That's my codename, actually." Sara quipped, chuckling.

* * *

Talia heard the Canary Cry and was about to go to the source, before facing Nyssa.

"We have an unfinished business, sister." Nyssa said.

"I heard you gave up the ring of the Demon's Head." Talia said. "What a foolish woman you've grown into."

"It was your selfishness that forced me to grow up alone." Nyssa said, walking down the stairs.

"Our father never would have passed his mantle onto a woman. I had to forge my own path." Talia said as both women pulled out their swords.

"And you left, knowing I would suffer at father's hand." Nyssa sneered.

"You wish to settle the score now?" Talia challenged as both al Ghul sisters circled each other.

"I stand with my friends." Nyssa said.

"You ally yourself with our father's murderer? He would be ashamed of you." Talia glared.

"Father was always ashamed of me." Nyssa countered as Talia's students pulled out their weapons.

"No." Talia ordered. "Do not interfere."

Talia and Nyssa put down their bows and pulled out their swords before rushing at each other. Nyssa blocked Talia's attack, while Talia dodged Nyssa's strike. They both appeared to be evenly matched as they exchanged strikes. Talia dodged Nyssa's kick and blocked Nyssa's strike again before Nyssa landed a punch at her face and kicked her in the leg as Talia fell down.

Talia's students drew their swords before Slade jumped down from the railing and cut them down.

Nyssa neared the blade to Talia's throat.

"Do it." Talia urged. "Father would've wanted you too."

Nyssa considered before knocking Talia out as she turned to Slade. "You're late."

"But they're not." Slade said, when Oliver, Sara, Diggle, Quentin, Dinah and Rene showed up.

"He was only pretending to screw with you?" Diggle realized.

"I needed a way to get Curtis's device to Dinah. Have you seen my son?" Oliver asked Slade.

"I've searched. Your son is not here." Slade said.

"We gotta get our gear, we gotta move." Oliver said as he and Sara recovered their weapons.

"We find Chase, it's over." Sara said.

"Not so sure about that." Rene said as Chase entered with more of Talia's students and Black Siren.

"Hello, Oliver. Welcome back to Purgatory." Chase said as Oliver glared at him.

"Where's my son?" Oliver demanded.

"I love this. Even now, at the end, you're still ten steps behind." Chase smirked.

"Where… is my son?" Oliver repeated, losing his patience.

"William? Good name. Sort of a sweet kid, actually." Chase glanced at Siren before turning to Oliver again. "You sure he's yours?"

"Adrian! Where is my son?!" Oliver exploded.

"If you want to get your son back, you know what you have to do." Chase taunted.

"I know what you want me to do. And I won't do it. I'm not gonna kill you. No matter what you do, that is _never_ going to happen." Oliver sneered.

"Never say never." Chase said as both groups engaged each other.

Oliver blocked Chase's sword as they clashed with their weapons.

Dinah and Sara engaged Black Siren in a hand-to-hand fight.

Slade dodged as Talia's students attacked with their swords, grabbing one of them by his hand and knocking him down and disarming another one of his sword. Diggle disarmed a student of his sword and blocked as another one attacked him. Diggle grabbed him by his arm and threw him down. Nyssa blocked as one of the students attacked with his sword and kicked him in the midsection. Rene grabbed another student by his arm, throwing him down before hitting another one in the face. Harkness threw boomerangs, slicing down Talia's students.

Black Siren blocked Dinah's and Sara's blows.

"You don't have to do this. You can't have always been like this." Sara pleaded.

"Shut up! You know nothing about me!" Black Siren snarled.

Black Siren blocked Sara's kick and Dinah's punches before they dodged Black Siren's kick. Black Siren blocked their blows before Dinah knocked Black Siren down. Both Dinah and Black Siren unleashed their sonic screams, the impact sending them flying back in opposite directions before Black Siren got up.

"You thought you could replace me? That's cute." Black Siren sneered but before she could finish Sara and Dinah off, Quentin hit her from behind with a wooden plank, knocking her out.

"You didn't have to do that." Dinah said.

"Oh, I did. For so many reasons." Quentin said and Sara had a strange feeling from her father knocking out someone, who looked like her sister.

* * *

"Can we reach out?" Malcolm asked.

"No. Chase is jamming all outside communications." Curtis said, while Felicity was trying to find the detonator.

* * *

Back in the monastery, the fight continued. Oliver blocked Chase's sword before punching him. Chase pinned Oliver to the wall as their weapons crossed before Oliver pushed him back and kicked him back as Chase stumbled against a pillar. Chase dodged, when Oliver swung his bow and they both exchanged blows before Oliver slammed him to the railing.

"There's the killer that I know and love." Chase smirked.

Oliver punched Chase as Chase fell over the railing before Oliver jumped down, grabbing Chase in chokehold.

"Do it, Oliver. You know you want to." Chase choked out as his face was going red.

"Yeah, Adrian, tell me. Tell me where my son is!" Oliver yelled.

"Never." Chase grunted as Oliver's friends and allies had finished off the last of Chase's men. "It's all over but only if you do it. Do it, Oliver and show everyone, show yourself who you really are."

Sara, Diggle, Quentin, Dinah, Nyssa, Rene and Slade stared at Oliver, wondering if he would kill Chase.

"No!" Oliver said after few tense moments, letting Chase go, who took deep breaths. He disarmed Chase of his gun and dismantled it as he got up before turning to Chase as he took a breath. "That's who I was… that's who I was before! It's not who I am now. You can blame me for your father's death for the rest of your life. I am done blaming myself for mine." He felt like if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders as he breathed out.

"I knew it would come to this." Chase said, getting up as Oliver turned to him again. "Your son is dead, Oliver."

The atmosphere turned solemn, with Diggle, Quentin, Slade and Rene, as parents, feeling greatest sympathies for Oliver, with Diggle thinking about the time when his child was left alone, when Oliver had kidnapped Lyla, Slade thinking about leaving his son as he put down his mask, Rene remembering Zoe being taken away from him and Quentin remembering both Sara's deaths.

Oliver neared Chase and lifted his head. "I don't believe you because you're a liar. You're lying to me to manipulate me into doing what you want. But, Adrian, here's the thing. If you are telling the truth. If you killed my son, I am never going to be the person you want me to be. Not ever."

The only sound was Chase's heavy breathing as he glared at Oliver before Oliver got up, while Felicity called out.

" _Oliver. Oliver, do you copy?_ " Felicity called out.

"Felicity." Oliver said.

" _You can't kill Chase. Do you hear me?_ "

"What are you talking about?"

" _He's rigged the entire island with explosives. They're remotely linked to some sort of dead man switch. If he dies, it detonates all the devices. He wants you to kill him, so it kills all of us._ "

Oliver saw Chase get up as he reached for his jacket and threw a flashbang on the ground, blinding them and concealing his escape.

" _Oliver! Oliver, are you OK?_ "

"It's OK. I'm fine." Oliver said before turning to Sara and Diggle. "I need you to get to the plane and make sure everyone's safe. Felicity can talk you in."

"Oliver, what the hell is going on?" Diggle demanded.

"Chase has put explosives all over the island. You need to get them to the plane and you leave, when you get there." Oliver ordered.

"What are you gonna be doing?" Rene asked.

"I'm going after my son." Oliver said.

"What if Chase is telling the truth?" Quentin pointed out.

"I don't believe him. I can't believe him. But either way, Adrian Chase is not getting off the island." Oliver said before he ran off.

* * *

Oliver ran across the forest to the shore of Lian Yu as he saw Chase on a boat that was docked and was driving off as he glared. Oliver rushed down the dock, keeping his pace with the boat before he jumped aboard and knocked Chase against the railing, pinning him down, his bow to Chase's chest.

"WHERE'S WILLIAM?!" Oliver yelled. Chase chuckled, amused and Oliver's glare intensified. "WHERE! IS! WILLIAM?!" Oliver shouted, puncturing each word with a punch to Chase's face.

"You really love that kid, don't you?" Chase taunted.

"ADRIAN!" Oliver snarled, pummeling Chase repeatedly again before throwing him against the steering wheel as Chase stopped the boat.

"For an absentee father, your devotion is impressive. Here you are, worried about your kid, when everyone else you care about, is on the island, about to get blown up sky high." Chase said.

"My friends and my team can take care of themselves." Oliver said, about to notch an arrow.

"By using my plane to escape, right?" Chase said and Oliver felt a pit of dread form in his stomach.

* * *

"I can't start the engine." Diggle said as he, Malcolm and Curtis went out from Chase's plane.

"Someone tampered with the plane. Most likely Chase to prevent us from escaping." Malcolm added.

"Either way, we're not going anywhere without Oliver or his son." Slade said.

"Actually, we're not going anywhere at all." Nyssa said as she showed them a small machine. "I found this 10 feet from the wing."

"Please, don't tell me that's what I think it is." Felicity grumbled.

"Unfortunately, if you're thinking it's an on-wing hydraulic system, the answer is 'Yes'." Malcolm drawled.

"Can you repair it?" Dinah demanded.

"With what tools?" Thea pointed out.

"Great." Roy groaned.

"So we're stuck here, is that what you're saying?" Quentin demanded.

"We have to tell Oliver. Now." Diggle said.

* * *

" _Oliver, do you copy?_ " Felicity called out.

"I'm here." Oliver said.

" _Chase sabotaged the plane, we can't get off the island._ " Felicity said.

"There's an A.R.G.U.S. supply ship on the eastern shore." Oliver said.

" _That's on the other side of the island!_ " Felicity protested.

"Slade knows where it is, go now!" Oliver ordered.

"They'll never make it in time. Besides, we're not finished here." Chase said, causing for Oliver to turn to him to see Chase pull William out of the inside of the boat. Oliver notched an arrow, while Chase was about to snap William's neck. "Don't do that. Even if you had a shot, you've already told me that you wouldn't kill me. Or have circumstances finally changed?" He gloated, while grabbing fistful of terrified William's hair. "If I die, everyone you care about dies, except your son. But if you don't kill me, I kill him."

"You son of a bitch." Oliver said with tears in his eyes, his voice breaking.

"William or everyone else. You choose. Right now." Chase snarled insanely. "Either way, it proves me right, heh? Either way, it's exactly like I told you. Everyone around you, everything you touch, dies."

Oliver seemingly gave in, lowering his bow and Chase smiled, satisfied that he had won before Oliver fired at Chase's ankle, causing for him to let William go as Chase fell down, while Oliver held William tightly in relief.

"William, come here. Are you OK? Are you alright? Did he hurt you?" Oliver said as William shook his head.

"He's gonna be fine—"

"Don't you talk to him!" Oliver snarled, pointing at Chase. "DON'T EVEN LOOK AT HIM!"

"You won." Chase smirked as he was sitting and leaning to the door on his boat, with the arrow sticking out of his ankle. "Your son has his father back and he learned exactly who his father was. Just like you learned who your father was right here. On these very same waters."

"What?" Oliver asked, confused as he held William in his arms.

"William's younger than you were, so he's gonna be fine." Chase continued. "And you have each other."

"What are you saying?" Oliver asked, not liking what was Chase doing.

"Which is good. Oliver, that's good. Because it's gonna be lonely—" Chase pulled out a revolver from his pocket and on instinct, Oliver grabbed Chase's wrist as they struggled for a moment before Oliver gained the upper hand and disarmed Chase as the gun slid down the floor and Oliver landed a solid punch in Chase's face, knocking him out cold.

Oliver then entered the inside of the boat as he found a satphone and dialed a number. "Lyla, it's Oliver. I need a plane to get to Lian Yu ASAP. Alongside with as many agents as possible." Oliver said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously, I didn't do some stuff, such as the Olicity kiss or Malcolm's sacrifice, due to how stupid it all was and before you ask me, yes, Malcolm survived, since I have something planned for him but don't worry, he won't be alive for too long, unlike in the show.
> 
> Plus, Oliver shackled in the first place, when Chase and Talia captured him in 5x16-17, made no sense to me, in addition to the bullshit confession that Oliver likes killing, since one would've thought that if not Talia, Ra's and the League would've taught Oliver, who had been trained to become Ra's successor, how to escape from shackles. Stupid retcon and nerfing Oliver by the writers again. Seriously, Guggenheim and Mericle are trying to really show us that Oliver is a weak-minded idiot.
> 
> And frankly, the Season 5 finale cliffhanger was stupid and pandering to the fanbase of idiots on Tumblr and pointless, considering that the only casualty was Samantha, which was only to make William an Olicity kid and it's quite sad that Olicity, alongside with Slade arc and 6x18-23, were the few saving graces of Season 6, which itself in general is among the worst in the show, alongside with Seasons 4 and 7. There are two moments, when Oliver could have taken out Chase before Chase killed himself. One was when Oliver saved William and Oliver had a chance to knock Chase out but I guess he was too relieved that his son was OK, so he can get some slack cut. But when Chase was basically telling Oliver his "Screw you" monologue, Oliver stared there like an idiot right up until the moment, where Chase killed himself and the island blew up and that itself could've been interesting but like I've said, it's stupid that only Samantha was the only casualty, only to make William an Olicity kid.
> 
> So, what do you guys think?
> 
> Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.


	3. Fallout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver deals with the aftermath of confrontation with Chase.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or the CW TV shows Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl or any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.

An hour later, A.R.G.U.S. operatives arrived, apprehending Chase and Evelyn, while Oliver drove the boat back to the shores of Lian Yu, reuniting Samantha and William, who were relieved.

"Mom." William said.

"Honey." Samantha said, relieved as she hugged him tightly.

"Where's Talia?" Oliver asked.

"We found no sign of her. She must have gotten away." Nyssa said.

Felicity looked horrified. "Wait, you're telling me that psycho bitch is out there—"

"Talia isn't stupid. Her students and allies have been beaten, she knows she wouldn't win today." Sara said, much to their relief.

"And where's Merlyn?" Diggle wondered, not sure if he wanted to know.

"When it was over, all he said was that he was glad that I was fine and that when the time would come, I'd help him with securing our legacy. Then he left." Thea said ominously.

"What did he mean by that?" Oliver asked.

"I don't know." Thea admitted, although all of them had a strange feeling that Malcolm would bring them more trouble later.

"Are you sure we can trust him?" Lyla asked, turning to Slade.

"I'm right here, Miss Michaels. If I wanted you dead, we wouldn't be talking and I would be on my merry way by now." Slade said dryly.

"Doesn't exactly fill me with confidence." Quentin said sarcastically.

"The Mirakuru wore off long ago and he had many chances to betray us. I trust him. Without him, we wouldn't have been able to save anyone." Oliver said and Lyla nodded.

"I guess if Oliver vouches for you, that's good enough for me." Lyla said, turning to Slade. "You want to search for your son, I'll help you, Mr. Wilson. But if you ever get on my radar again in the wrong way, I'm putting an arrow right into your other eye."

"Fair enough." Slade shrugged.

"And don't think I've forgotten how you tried to kill me, Mr. Harkness. But you helped my friends today." Lyla turned to Harkness. "So, I'm willing to give you a chance again. But what applies to Wilson, applies to you too. If I get a word you're causing trouble again…"

"Acknowledged." Harkness nodded.

"As for you, Felicity, we still need to discuss the fiasco with Cayden James." Lyla turned to Felicity, who squirmed. "Did you really think I'd let slide that you compromised national security and that one of your hacker friends killed a governmental officer?"

Felicity opened her mouth to protest. "Lyla, I—"

"Before you say more, considering the circumstances, I'm willing to sweeten the pot. You still in touch with Helix?" Lyla asked and Felicity considered.

"I may be able to reach out to Alena." Felicity admitted.

"Help me find Cayden James and Helix and I'll make sure you'll get reduced sentence and early parole. Deal?" Lyla asked.

"I guess that's fair." Felicity admitted.

"And me?" Black Siren asked as Oliver, Diggle, Thea, Felicity and Lyla turned to her. "I know that I need to answer for what I did and all I can say is I'm sorry. But Chase forced me to. I didn't have a choice."

They all looked at her warily before turning to Quentin. "I believe her."

"I didn't know about the bombs on the island or that Chase was involving an innocent kid in his vendetta, I swear." Black Siren pleaded.

"I think it would be good if she stayed with me." Quentin suggested as everyone stared.

"Quentin, are you sure—"

"Oliver, you weren't with her when she took me and Thea." Quentin said. "She grew up without a father and all she needs is some good influence in her life. I'm willing to take that chance. All I'm asking you is to trust me."

Oliver turned to Black Siren, who had sincere remorse in her eyes. "All I can say is I'm sorry, Ollie. I really am. And I'll do whatever I can for the rest of my life to make up for my sins."

Oliver nodded. "I believe you."

"What?" Felicity snapped. "Oliver, are you out of your mind? She almost got us—"

"Considering that she wouldn't have turned on us in the first place, if you hadn't ordered everyone to attack her, when it wasn't your call to make, I highly doubt you're in a room to get a vote!" Oliver snapped back as Felicity shut up, not wanting to push Oliver any further and knowing he had a point as she had the decency to look ashamed.

"You're right. I'm sorry." Felicity said.

* * *

Black Siren and Sara went aside.

"This is probably really strange for you, right?" Black Siren asked, as she and Sara looked at each other with uncertainty in their eyes.

"A little." Sara said. "Are you…" She swallowed, not sure if she wanted to know the answer. "Are you… like… my Laurel?"

"Hardly at all." Black Siren said, clearly ashamed of her past actions.

"I guess nobody's as good as the original Laurel Lance. Not even me." Sara acknowledged. "I don't know what you've heard or learned about me. But, basically, I had an affair with my Ollie. He dated our Laurel back then. I let my entire family think that I was dead. And then I became a League-trained assassin."

"Are you trying to tell me your past is worse than mine or are you expecting us to share stories?" Black Siren asked sarcastically.

"What I'm trying to say is, even someone with a past as checkered as mine can still turn their lives around." Sara said.

"Do you even know what I've done? I killed hundreds, thousands of innocents, in the name of one of the most dangerous and deadliest speedsters in the multiverse. That's all I ever was and all I'll ever be. A criminal. A villain." Black Siren sneered. "And even if I wanted to be better, no one's gonna accept someone as dark as me."

"What, you think you deserve a medal for trying to be good for five seconds?" Sara scoffed. "Redemption isn't a destination and it's not an easy road, it's a journey. I've spent years running away from all the bad things that I've done because I didn't want to face the pain that I had caused. Because I didn't want to be that person. And it took me a long time before I realized that the only way for me to stop being that person, is to come home. And own up to the things that I had done." She said as Black Siren looked at her, considering. "And, yeah. It was painful and it took me a long time but it was the only way for me to become someone else. Someone better than who I was."

Black Siren considered and took a breath. "What makes you think it's not too late for me?"

"I don't know. But if there's one thing I've learned… sometimes you need to take a leap of faith. It might pay off… if you're willing to try." Sara said.

Black Siren sighed. "I'm not sure if it's that easy and simple for me."

"Like I've said, redemption isn't easy. But the least you can do is try to see it through." Sara said and Black Siren considered.

* * *

"Are you really my Dad?" William asked as Oliver checked in on him and Samantha.

"Yes. I am." Oliver said.

"You kept visiting us back in Central City last year." William remembered. "Why didn't you tell me you're my Dad?"

"Because I told him _not_ to. And looking back, I realize it was a mistake." Samantha said gently.

"No. You did the right thing." Oliver said. "William, you know now that I'm the Green Arrow. And I think you realize it's a complicated and dangerous life and your mother and I were trying to protect you from it."

William nodded, understanding. "So, what happens now?"

"I don't know. But I think we can try to work things out." Oliver said.

"I think that's fair." Samantha acknowledged.

* * *

Later, Chase was put in the cell in the island prison, the same one, where Slade had been locked up as he got up from the bed, as Oliver entered.

"So, I guess you won. Your friends and family are safe. Why don't you come kill me? I know you want to. I know you better than you know yourself. You're a monster." Chase taunted.

"No. I just let you get into my head and that's a mistake I am not going to make, ever again. And even if I wanted to kill you, I'd kill you because you're a monster hurting innocents that has to be stopped at any cost. Just like your father was. And if I was a monster, I'd kill dozens more people and I've killed only, when I had to and never an innocent, unlike you. You just want someone to be as sick and twisted as you, so that you don't feel alone." Oliver said as the smile vanished off Chase's face. "You and Evelyn are going to spend the rest of your miserable lives in this cage, away from the rest of the world, knowing that you've lost and that you're never going to hurt anyone else, ever again."

The smile vanished off Chase's face as Oliver turned around before Chase was filled with relentless rage.

"This is not over, Oliver!" Chase yelled madly, just like Slade, after Oliver locked him up. "You think this place is going to stop me? I will get out and I will show you how everything you touch, dies! Everyone you love, will pay for your sins, one way or another!"

Oliver stopped and smiled. "No. You won't. This cell held Slade Wilson until the Mirakuru wore off. It'll keep you in here too. Goodbye, Adrian."

Oliver left as Chase was shaking the bars, glaring.

"Don't you dare turn your back on me!" Chase yelled. "Oliver! Oliver! I will get out and I will show you how everything you touch, dies!"

Oliver closed the door, ignoring Chase's incoherent insane shouting, just like when he locked Slade up three years ago.

* * *

"It's over, huh?" Sara asked as they walked down the shore of Lian Yu.

"For now." Oliver said as he turned to Sara. "Thank you for coming to help."

Sara nodded. "I'm sorry I ever left in the first place. If I could go back and do it all differently I would. But the truth is… I was too big of a coward to face the truth. But I don't want to run anymore."

They held hands, old feelings starting to resurface.

"There is something else I need to settle. An old debt from Russia." Oliver said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another thing that made no sense at all, was Felicity walking scot-free with no consequences for freeing Cayden James and compromising national security, even more, when Alena or one of the hacktivists (I don't remember now what exactly happened) got one of the guards killed and it became even more stupid considering the BS plot with Cayden and his cabal of villains in Season 6. But I've softened around Felicity in Season 6, so I'm willing to go easier on her and in my head-canon, Cayden gets caught very soon. But I'm not gonna do any breakup scene, since that's too big of a headache for me but in my head-canon, considering that Season 6 made Felicity more mature and understanding, safe for some understandable exceptions, she has a more mature and understanding reaction to the breakup.
> 
> I think you can guess what is Oliver going to do next. Frankly, Seasons 5-6 ruined Anatoly too, since he was one of my favorite supporting characters of the show. In this story, he'll still be quite bitter towards Oliver but they'll make amends faster than in the show, due to what I have prepared.
> 
> So, what do you guys think?
> 
> Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.


	4. Between two worlds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver and Sara head to Russia to settle a debt with Anatoly as Oliver considers his path as a hero.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or the CW TV shows Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl or any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.

_**Moscow** _

A drug dealer in an alley was walking down with his female escort before an arrow hit him in the shoulder as he screamed in pain, while the women ran away in panic.

" _Help me, you idiots!_ " The dealer screamed before the Green Arrow jumped down from a rooftop and restrained the dealer by firing a bola arrow that wrapped the cables around him and the dealer paled upon recognizing the archer. " _Kapiushon?_ "

* * *

Oliver brought the dealer into the Bratva hideout as Anatoly and one of the captains accompanying him glared, although they relaxed as Oliver brought in the dealer.

"I upheld my end of the deal." Oliver said.

"The debt is settled but we're not finished yet, Oliver." Anatoly said as Oliver narrowed his eyes.

"Anatoly, I thought–"

"As far as the matter of Star City is concerned, we have put this behind us but there is something else we need to discuss." One of the captains said as Oliver entered Anatoly's office with Sara.

"I'm glad to see you have returned." Anatoly said, turning to Sara.

"I'm surprised how things have turned out between you two." Sara said bitterly and Anatoly had the decency to look ashamed over his past actions.

"I've had some time to think about what happened and you're right." Anatoly turned to Oliver. "I have become as bad as Gregor, if not worse and somewhere down the line, I have forgotten my honor. But I'm trying to remind myself and everyone in Bratva what is honor but it is not easy."

"What do you mean?" Oliver demanded as Anatoly showed him a file that Oliver opened and saw a photo of a man in early 40s with short hair and dragon tattoos on his shoulders.

"On the streets, they call him 'The Dragon'. His real name is Ricardo Diaz." Anatoly said. "He arrived here not long after that business with gulag."

"Who is he?" Sara inquired.

"At first, he was some minor lowlife drug dealer, so we did not think he was a liability to us at the time. But as time passed, he managed to get dozens of government officials on his payroll, extorting, bribing, blackmailing, threatening anyone he could until he had full control of the city." Anatoly explained.

"And Bratva has been unable to stop him so far." Oliver realized. "He basically became Kovar's successor."

Anatoly nodded grimly. "The only reason Bratva is still standing is because we did not dare to make a move on him and Diaz does not consider us a threat."

"You want us to take out Diaz." Sara realized and Anatoly nodded.

"We've tried to stop him once. Didn't work. Diaz sent us the heads of our men in a box. He has an army behind him and Diaz has them memorize faces of every member of Bratva. The moment we try something, he'll know and crush us." Anatoly explained grimly. "But you on the other hand…" Oliver and Sara nodded, realizing what he wanted.

"That's it?" Oliver asked.

"Kill Diaz and we're even." Anatoly explained.

* * *

Oliver and Sara were in a car outside a store on a stakeout as they saw a man go out before they approached him and grabbed him, knocking him out.

* * *

The man was later tied to a chair elsewhere, blindfolded as Oliver sharpened a knife.

"Who are you? What do you want from me? Where am I?" The man demanded.

"Tell me everything you know about Ricardo Diaz." Oliver said.

"I don't know who are you talking about." The man denied.

Oliver stabbed the man in the knee as he screamed in pain and twisted the knife. "Don't lie to me or it's going to get worse for you."

"I don't know anything." The man said again as Oliver twisted the knife more and the man screamed louder.

"OK! OK! I'll tell you!"

* * *

" _Are you OK, Dad?_ " William asked over the phone as Oliver was talking to him outside the room.

"I'm just settling some unfinished business with an old friend. I don't know how long am I going to be here." Oliver admitted.

" _I hope you'll be careful. I don't want to–"_

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Just… listen to your mother and Aunt Thea." Oliver said, assuring William before hanging up.

Oliver went out as Sara approached him. "You OK, Ollie?"

"William. He's worried he's going to lose me. And… I'm not sure if I have done the right thing by coming here." Oliver said and Sara nodded.

* * *

_**One week ago, Star City** _

_William and Samantha were watching the news about the Green Arrow and his team stopping Alex Faust, when Oliver entered and William hugged him tightly, worried._

_"Thank God." William said._

_"I'm fine. I'm fine." Oliver said._

_"Oliver. Can I talk to you for a minute?" Samantha requested as he followed her into a corner. "How can you do this every night?" She demanded, worried._

_"I… I have to. This city needs me." Oliver said._

_"And William needs a father to protect him. Oliver. I understand that you have your reasons but William doesn't. I just…" Samantha sighed. "Oliver, I just… am not sure how things are going to work out, now that William knows who you are. And I can't send him away, not again. But… how are you going to be there for him, if you do this?"_

_"What do you mean?" Oliver asked._

_"Who needs who more? The city needing the Green Arrow? Or William needing his father?" Samantha pointed out and Oliver took a breath, knowing she had a point._

* * *

_Oliver went out and was going down the street before facing Slade. "Hey, kid." Slade said._

_"Hello, Slade." Oliver said._

_"How are they doing?" Slade asked._

_"As well as expected." Oliver explained and Slade nodded. "What are you doing here?"_

_"I popped by to say that the intel that you gave me on my son, Joe, it panned out. So I'm heading to Calgary." Slade explained._

_"Well, that's great. I'm very happy for you. I… I hope you'll find what you're looking for." Oliver said, somewhat hesitantly, something which Slade noticed._

_"You don't think I will?" Slade inquired._

_"I… think that finding your son doesn't always go as planned." Oliver explained and Slade frowned._

_"Have things been that hard with you and your son?" Slade asked and Oliver nodded. "Be patient. And be prepared."_

_"For what?" Oliver asked, not understanding._

_"Choosing between the man this city needs you to be or the father that your son needs you to be." Slade explained._

_"What do you mean by that?" Oliver inquired._

_"You and I walk between two worlds… but we can only do that for so long." Slade said as he and Oliver shook hands. "Good luck… Mr. Queen."_

_"Good luck, Slade." Oliver said before he and Slade parted ways._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what do you guys think?
> 
> Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.


	5. Diaz's downfall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver and Sara help Anatoly and the Bratva take down Diaz.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or the CW TV shows Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl or any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.

"Did he tell you anything?" Anatoly asked as Oliver entered his office.

"He is more terrified of Diaz than us, so he didn't want to talk but he broke, eventually." Oliver explained. "Diaz most likely knows by now that we grabbed one of his men, so he's going to move out of his hideout."

Anatoly realized where was Oliver going with this. "We'll follow him and once we find out where he's moving, we'll take him out." Oliver nodded as Anatoly chuckled. "You know, I missed this, Oliver. Just like old times."

"Hopefully, not too much." Oliver muttered.

"Well, let's see if we can get the drop on Diaz." Sara said.

* * *

Later, elsewhere in the city, a group of cars were driving down the road and then, one of the cars exploded, flipping over as Bratva and the Hood appeared with the Canary.

Diaz's men opened fire at Bratva as they went out, engaging in gunfight before the Hood shot some of them down and the Canary attacked with her batons, beating up three Diaz's thugs before a man in a suit with short haircut and brown eyes and slightly tanned skin went out as Anatoly and the rest of the Bratva glared at him.

"Impressive… Mr. Queen." Diaz said and Oliver's eyes widened. "I've heard the stories about the Kapiushon operating in Bratva five years ago that killed Kovar, around the same time Oliver Queen joined Bratva. And then, few months later, Oliver Queen and the Hood appear in Starling City? Doesn't take that much to put it together. And Sara Lance. Another one, who came back from the dead."

Sara stiffened but got a hold of herself.

"You're going down." Sara sneered.

"Did you really think I wasn't prepared for you?" Diaz taunted as more of his men appeared. "You're outnumbered."

"If you're gonna kill us, do it." Anatoly taunted.

"No. I won't." Diaz said. "Like I've said, you're outnumbered. But I'm willing to give you a chance. Give me Queen and the girl."

Anatoly considered his options as Oliver turned to him. "It's alright, Anatoly. It's alright."

* * *

Later, Oliver and Sara were in chains as they were brought to Diaz in his hideout, as he was surrounded by his men.

"The Green Arrow and the Canary. I'm not impressed." Diaz smirked. "Saviors of Star City? How pathetic."

Diaz punched Oliver, who smiled. "It tickles." Diaz glared, punching him again as Oliver laughed. "I think you can do better than that."

Diaz glared as he hit him in the stomach as Oliver fell on his knees.

"Enough!" Anatoly said. "What is the point of this?"

"You're a coward." Sara sneered and Diaz glared before he punched her too and she laughed.

"This is pointless! In Bratva, we have ways of dealing with conflict. We fight with honor, we don't do this." Anatoly said.

"You want me to fight him fairly?" Diaz laughed as he turned to Anatoly. "Life ain't fair."

"Every drop of blood you draw from prone men is a sign of weakness. Your weakness." Anatoly said and Diaz glared, enraged by such insult as he held Anatoly by his shoulder in an attempt to intimidate him but Anatoly was unfazed as he saw what a coward Diaz was.

"I'm not weak." Diaz sneered as he put down his jacket and his men untied Oliver and Sara.

"Thank you." Oliver said.

"Stop him." Anatoly whispered as Oliver got up.

"Let's make things interesting." Diaz said, stretching his arms. "I put you on the ground, you leave Russia forever. You put me on the ground, I do the same. That fair enough for you?"

"Yeah." Oliver said as he and Diaz circled each other.

"You think you're so tough because you spent five years in hell?" Diaz taunted before throwing a punch but Oliver blocked and pushed Diaz back. "I was born in it."

Oliver threw a punch but Diaz dodged and crouched before trying to hit Oliver in his face. Oliver blocked Diaz's attack and jumped, kicking Diaz in his chest as Diaz staggered back. Oliver tried to land punches at Diaz's face but Diaz blocked before landing two hard strikes at Oliver's face and chest but Oliver blocked the third punch and grabbed Diaz by his arm before slamming his face against a pillar three times before letting Diaz go, while Diaz was staggering on his feet.

Angered and dazed, in a desperate move, to his luck, Diaz managed to land a solid blow to Oliver's face as he spat out blood. Diaz rushed at Oliver and pinned him to a pillar before Oliver kicked Diaz in his chest and headbutted him as Diaz staggered back. Enraged, Diaz rushed at Oliver, pinning him to the ground and throwing a barrage of punches, leaving Oliver's face quite bruised and bloodied, due to Diaz's unexpected tenacity.

Oliver managed to grab Diaz's hands and roll over, switching positions and grabbing Diaz in a chokehold as Diaz grunted, trying to struggle out of Oliver's hold.

"Yield! Yield or I'll break your neck!" Oliver snarled.

"Let him go!" One of Diaz's men ordered, aiming his gun as Oliver was forced to loosen his grip and Diaz got up.

"Like I've said, life ain't fair. You think people care about honor? It doesn't matter how you win, all that matters is that you win." Diaz sneered. "Kill them."

"You're assuming we would let ourselves be caught that easily." Sara taunted as Diaz narrowed his eyes, wondering what did she mean. "But well, Diaz, here's the thing. Assumption… is the mother of all failures."

Suddenly, an explosion followed, the entire building being rocked in explosion as Diaz's men lowered their weapons in surprise and Bratva thugs entered, shooting them and engaging them in gunfight as Diaz ran off.

"Oliver!" Anatoly called out as he threw towards him his bow and quiver and they started taking down Diaz's men.

"I'm going after Diaz!" Oliver said, chasing after him as Sara threw a knife at one of Diaz's men.

"I'll help here!" Sara said.

* * *

"I need a chopper!" Diaz called out over the phone as he was on the rooftop.

" _We're five minutes away._ " The pilot said.

"I don't have five minutes!" Diaz shouted before a flying arrow shot it off Diaz's hand and pinned it to the stair railing as he turned around.

"I agree!" Oliver snarled, while standing on the upper rooftop.

"You wanna shoot me? Do it! Right here!" Diaz taunted, as he was readying himself for Oliver to take a clear shot but Oliver hesitated and Diaz smirked. "See, that's your problem. It's always been your problem!"

Diaz pulled out his gun but Oliver fired an explosive arrow as the explosion forced Diaz to drop his gun. Oliver jumped down and rushed at Diaz, tackling him to the lower rooftop before they both got up and resumed their fight.

Diaz pulled out a knife but Oliver knocked it away from Diaz's hand with his bow as both men lost their weapons in the process. Oliver and Diaz exchanged blows, Oliver grabbed Diaz but Diaz punched him, landing few hits before Oliver sent a barrage of punches that Diaz blocked. Oliver grabbed Diaz, trying to tackle him to the ground and Oliver flipped, while Diaz rolled back.

As they both got up, Oliver dodged Diaz's kick and blocked the following one before they exchanged blows again. Diaz grabbed Oliver's arm and threw him away. Diaz blocked Oliver's kick as he got up before throwing him to the edge of the rooftop and kicking him in the chest and choking him as Oliver glared.

"Enough!" Oliver punched Diaz three times in quick succession, dazing him and throwing him down. Oliver drove an arrow through Diaz's shoulder as he groaned in pain.

Diaz yelled and got up, glaring as he pulled the arrow out. "This is my city!" He shouted. "You wanna stop me, you're gonna have to kill me!"

"I'm not gonna let you hurt anyone else, ever again. This ends here!" Oliver snarled before stabbing Diaz in the chest with another arrow. Oliver twisted as Diaz grunted and gagged before falling on his knees and then on the ground as the light left the crime lord's eyes and Oliver breathed out.

* * *

With their leader dead, Diaz's men surrendered to Bratva as they toasted their victory in a bar and Oliver remembered celebrating their victory after they took down Konstantin Kovar.

"To Oliver Queen and Sara Lance!"

"To Kapiushon!"

The Bratva raised their glasses and toasted as Sara chuckled. "This happened the first time around, too, when you joined Bratva?"

"Yeah. It did." Oliver nodded.

"Feels like old times, doesn't it, Oliver?" Anatoly smiled and Oliver turned to him.

"Thank you."

"For what?" Anatoly asked.

"For giving us a chance to take out Diaz." Oliver said.

"What makes you think that's what I was doing?" Anatoly asked as Oliver raised a brow. "To be honest, I considered begging Diaz for mercy but I wanted to see for myself."

"What?" Sara asked.

"Which one of you had honor. Thank you for reminding me, who I am." Anatoly said. "And I will try not to lose my way."

"I hope you won't. You're a good man. You just forgot your way." Oliver said as he and Anatoly shook hands, making amends.

* * *

Oliver and Sara were in the plane, flying back to Star City as Sara stared at him.

"Sometimes I wonder how things would turn out if I had stayed." Sara said.

"Me too. I understand why you left though." Oliver said.

"I know. But I don't want to live in that darkness anymore. To be honest… I had convinced myself I didn't deserve you but truth be told… I was too afraid of… seeing this through. I thought that the only way to deal with my struggle was alone… but I don't want to be alone anymore. If I could go back and do things differently, I would. Sometimes I wake up at night and think about…"

"…if you had stayed with me?" Oliver asked and Sara nodded. "Me too. I'll always care about Felicity but… I don't love her. I thought I did but… not as much as I loved you or Laurel. And I never stopped thinking about you."

"Is it too late to say I want to be back with you?" Sara asked.

"It's never too late, Sara." Oliver smiled and next thing they both knew, they laid down on the chair, stripping each other of their clothes and kissing fiercely as they let their feelings they had buried for each other, take over.

* * *

_**Star City** _

"Oh, come on, how many times do we have to deal with this guy?" Wild Dog groaned as he took cover behind a dumpster, while Vigilante opened fire at them.

"I'm really starting to hate him." Black Canary muttered. "That does it!"

She unleashed her Canary Cry as the ceiling fell down on Vigilante, who screamed, crushed under the rubble.

"Is he…" Mr. Terrific trailed off.

"Dead? One way to find out." Dinah said, about to take off his mask.

"Easy. It's booby trapped." Curtis cautioned before they carefully pulled out Vigilante's mask and stared in shock at seeing his face.

"Oh, my God…" Dinah whispered.

* * *

Elsewhere in Star City, Thea and Roy were in her apartment as she looked at him, sad.

"I'm glad you're back, Roy." Thea said.

"Me too. I'm sorry I didn't come back sooner. I know I should've–"

"Don't." Thea interrupted Roy, her finger on his lips. "Just shut up and kiss me."

* * *

From the rooftop across Thea's apartment, a woman dressed in an attire similar to the League of Assassins put down her mask as she called out. "Master. I have located the heir of Ra's al Ghul."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, while Sara looks fine with the white suit, no mask, seriously? I liked Caity Lotz more in the original Canary outfit, since Laurel's journey as the Black Canary was rushed with mishandled training and the Black Canary costume just didn't fit Katie Cassidy at all. Don't get me wrong, Katie Cassidy is a fine actress but I can hardly see her as an action type, unlike Caity Lotz or Juliana Harkavy, besides, frankly, I didn't like her looks as the Black Canary, either the Earth-1 version or the Earth-2 version from the flashforwards in 7x18 because of the too light hair. While Earth-2 Laurel looked fine as the Black Canary in Season 8, not a fan of the haircut Katie's got.
> 
> Plus, Diaz leaking Oliver's photo in the first place was a bit dumb, since we never got an explanation how did Diaz find out who Oliver was in the first place and it's astonishing how Oliver, who had been trained by Yao Fei, Shado, Slade, A.R.G.U.S., Bratva, Malcolm, Ra's al Ghul, Talia and the League of Assassins, gets his ass kicked by a lowlife thug like Diaz and before anyone brings up the Longbow Hunters or Dante, there is no indication that Diaz had met them prior to 6x23. I can see him being a capable fighter and briefly hold his own but him being able to wipe the floor with Oliver like in 6x20 was stupid, ridiculously nerfing him and Oliver getting stabbed by Diaz in 6x20 was stupid and infuriating, since Oliver getting beaten by this kind of lamest cheap shot just shows how much they want to nerf him.
> 
> Hope you liked the fight with Diaz, since while it's stupid how Oliver gets beaten by a crime lord, who has no indication of having advanced combat training, the final fight between Oliver and Diaz in Season 6 is great, mainly because of the music.
> 
> And yes, Vigilante is down and unmasked too but before you start thinking that, it's not gonna be the show's version of Vigilante, Dinah Drake's former lover Vincent Sobel, since that twist ruined Dinah and made her an unlikable character. You'll see who it was in the next chapter and frankly, I wish they had used this twist instead of Vincent. And to be honest, Vigilante in the show has been nothing more than a nuisance we didn't need and could've been taken down easily, if Oliver's teammates were not useless morons, which Rene and Rory aren't, luckily, well, Rene isn't that big of a moron, unlike Curtis or Dinah.
> 
> So, what do you guys think?
> 
> Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.


	6. The Thanatos Guild

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vigilante is unmasked as Malcolm starts his new scheme.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or the CW TV shows Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl or any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.

_**SCPD** _

"He's who now?" Sara demanded as she and Oliver were talking with Dinah in the SCPD, while the man, who was the unmasked Vigilante, was in the interrogation room, cuffed to the table, who looked exactly like Chase.

"The real Adrian Chase." Dinah said. "We compared dental records, fingerprints and DNA with the printed files, not the digitalized because the other guy, Simon Morrison, had erased all traces of his existence on the Internet but he didn't have access to the printed records. We did more thorough check and he was an A.D.A. in New York, had a wife and children too but five years ago they were killed by throwing stars in their jugulars and their house was burned to the ground."

Oliver clenched his fists, realizing what happened.

"Looks like Prometheus stole his identity and made sure that he couldn't tell anyone who he really was." Sara said as Adrian was staring at the wall.

"How the hell didn't we see this?" Dinah muttered.

"Because that son of a bitch was that good." Laurel growled, clenching her fists.

"Let me talk to him." Oliver said as he entered the interrogation room, while Adrian stared at him blankly.

"You're Adrian Chase?" Oliver asked. "The real Adrian Chase?"

Adrian nodded. "Yes." He noticed how agitated Oliver was from staring at him. "I take it that seeing my face unnerves you, Queen?"

Oliver seething was the answer he needed.

"If you're the real Adrian Chase, what happened to you?" Oliver asked.

"The man that you knew as Adrian Chase, the Throwing Star Killer, he attacked me and my wife and children five years ago." Adrian explained. "Burned the house with them to the ground and kept me alive for a time to make sure…"

"He had the same face as you?" Oliver questioned.

Adrian nodded. "We resembled each other enough but still different in many ways. He wanted to learn how I talk, how I walk, how I breathe, everything about me. By the time I escaped, he had taken everything from me already. My identity, my face, my job." He took a breath before continuing. "So I decided to get justice for what he had done to me. When I saw the Hood on the news, I joined the military. I studied, trained, just to do what he does and get justice for my family. But then I realized that there are just as many corrupt crooks as that bastard. Like you covering up Green Arrow murdering Detective Malone." He finished, looking at Oliver in disgust.

"You're no better than either the Green Arrow or the Throwing Star Killer. You got my sister and Mr. Lance caught in the crossfire, alongside with more innocent people." Oliver sneered with the same disgusted tone and look.

"Collateral damage." Adrian said the same words the Vigilante had told the Green Arrow last year. "This is war."

"Doesn't justify what you've done. You think you're the same or better than the Green Arrow? He never would have put innocent people in danger and gotten them caught in crossfire." Oliver said.

"What do I have left? Nothing. Vigilante is who I am now." Adrian said.

Oliver sighed. He could feel some sympathy for the man… but he needed to answer for his crimes. "Doesn't matter what happened to you, that doesn't justify you indiscriminately killing criminals and getting innocent caught in the crossfire. You need to answer for what you've done."

Adrian was silent and no hint of remorse, sadness or anger was visible on his face. He just stared with a passive, blank expression on his face as Oliver left.

"Are we done here?" Dinah asked.

"Yeah. We are." Oliver said.

"I'm not sure if we can help him. I think the best thing we can do is to lock him up and… help him recuperate. Maybe set him up with a new identity." Dinah suggested.

"I'm not sure if that is gonna help either. Worst case scenario, we're going to lock him up." Oliver said.

* * *

_**Star City** _

"Roy, where are we gonna go?" Thea asked, driving down the road with Roy.

"I'm not sure yet. But I don't want to stay here in Star City anymore." Roy said.

"We can talk with Lyla. Tell her to clear up the charges against you. Then you can stay." Thea pointed out.

"I know. I just… we've been through a lot and Star City is full of—"

Suddenly, the car skidded as an arrow hit the tire.

"What the hell was that?" Thea demanded before they were ambushed by people in an attire similar to the League of Assassins. "Please, tell me you've got some weapons somewhere."

An assassin smashed the window and neared the blade of his sword to Roy's throat before Nyssa appeared, shooting down the assassins.

"Follow me! Hurry!" Nyssa ordered as Roy and Nyssa went out.

"Nyssa? What is going on?" Thea demanded.

"We need to move." Nyssa ordered.

"What? There are more coming?" Thea demanded.

"Many more, those were scouts." Nyssa said.

"They looked like the League of Assassins." Roy pointed out.

"No. The League of Assassins was disbanded. This can't be them." Thea protested.

"Nothing stays dead forever, Thea."

Thea's and Roy's blood ran cold as they whirled around, glaring.

"What the hell do you want?" Thea demanded.

"You are an Heir to the Demon, Thea. And there's no escaping that." Malcolm said as he pulled out his sword. "She's coming with me."

"I don't think so." Nyssa dropped a ball on the ground that exploded in smoke, as she escaped with Thea and Roy.

* * *

_**Later, the Lair** _

Oliver, Laurel and Sara entered with worried looks.

"We got back here as soon as we heard. What happened?" Oliver asked. "Thea, are you hurt?"

"No, no. I'm fine. I'm OK." Thea said.

"I'm doing pretty fine myself, thanks for asking." Roy deadpanned with feigned hurt.

"Some creeps dressed just like Talia's bozos led by Merlyn ambushed them." Rene explained.

"What?" Sara demanded.

"What the hell is going on here?" Oliver demanded.

"Apparently, my dear old Dad decided to recruit some loyalists before Nyssa disbanded the League." Thea groaned.

"For what?" Sara inquired.

"To start his own. The Thanatos Guild. Began hearing whispers about them shortly after we all returned from Lian Yu." Nyssa explained.

"So, now we've got another gang of assassins led by another psychopath, who's gunning for all of us again. Great." Curtis grumbled.

"What would Merlyn want with you?" Diggle wondered as he turned to Thea.

"I'm not sure." Thea admitted.

"I've been following the Guild for a time. Merlyn discovered a map to something ancient, powerful. I do not know what it is but I do know that he wants Thea at his side, when he unearths it." Nyssa said.

"It's funny, since he never mentioned it." Thea said sarcastically.

"Because he knew you were not ready." Nyssa explained.

"Whatever Malcolm is up to, it can't be good." Oliver said. "Which means we need to shut him down."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got this idea regarding Vigilante from Stand with Ward and Queen's now deleted story Arrow season six and CarVie16's story Unjustifiable. Honestly, the twist with the Vigilante being Dinah Drake's former lover Vincent was stupid and it ruined Dinah and made her unlikeable. I gave her a benefit of the doubt in Season 7 but I ran out of it, after how she kept pretending what a saint Vince was and how she treated Earth-2 Laurel in 7x16-18, despite that Laurel didn't kill Hernandez and was framed by Emiko.
> 
> And Laurel in here now has the same backstory she got from 6x15.
> 
> Some of my stories are going to make Dinah more tolerable, others not so much and she gets called out on her crap.
> 
> So, what do you guys think?
> 
> Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.


	7. Malcolm's secret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver and Malcolm are on a chase for a secret, while Oliver asks for help from an unlikely ally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or the CW TV shows Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl or any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.

After Thea and Nyssa visited one of her contacts, Tigressa, the Green Arrow, the White Canary, Wild Dog, Arsenal, Speedy, Black Canary and Spartan entered an abandoned factory.

"Be cautious. Merlyn would've laid traps to protect this place." Nyssa warned.

" _Like from Indiana Jones films?_ " Curtis questioned, talking from the lair.

"Are you OK?" Arsenal asked.

"Yeah." Speedy nodded. "I'll be, once this is all over."

"Me too." Arsenal nodded before he stepped on a pressure plate and arrows fired from the walls.

"Get down!" Nyssa ordered as they took cover. "Traps. Excellent." Nyssa smirked.

"Excellent?" Spartan demanded

"We must be close." Nyssa said.

"Yeah, it's definitely like from Indiana Jones." Wild Dog muttered.

"Thermal imaging is showing that what we're looking at is what we've got." Spartan said. "No hallways, no doors."

"Malcolm had a secret chamber in his office." Green Arrow remembered. "He might have something here."

"Clever." Nyssa smirked as it hit her. She dropped an explosive on the floor as the smoke went into the hole.

Wild Dog stared. "What the—"

"Iodide dixonium, a component magnetically attracted to the same type of steel my father used to encase relics." Nyssa explained before kneeling down and pulling out a knife as she cut into the floor, revealing a box hidden under it.

"OK, that's not a map." Speedy noted.

"The map is inside it." White Canary realized. "An ancient League cipher."

"Does it need a code?" Arsenal deduced.

"Try my birthday." Speedy said.

"It's not gonna be that simple." White Canary said.

"Sara is right, there are eighteen digits across three alphabets." Nyssa acknowledged.

"OK, so it's not my birthday." Speedy muttered.

Then they heard blood dripping as from above was hanging Tigressa, Nyssa's contact.

" _Guys, you've got incoming. A lot._ " Curtis said.

"Thank you for recovering the map, you made the job lot easier for me." Malcolm said as he entered with the Guild assassins and Athena. "Considering I'm in such a good mood, I offer you a deal. The map and my daughter in exchange for your lives."

"Like hell if that happens." Black Canary sneered.

The assassins drew their weapons as Team Arrow prepared for a fight.

"I will not repeat myself. Thea and the map will come with me and I will spare you." Malcolm said as Team Arrow glared.

"I'm not going anywhere with you. Not again." Speedy sneered.

"Get that box out of here." Green Arrow ordered.

"Uh, we're kind of outnumbered." Wild Dog noted.

"Not for long." Arsenal said as he fired a flashbang arrow, blinding the Guild assassins before they started to run.

Spartan disarmed one of the assassins and shot him before another assassin cut him in the back. Wild Dog took cover from the arrows they fired and fired back with his guns. Black Canary and the White Canary engaged the assassins, using their staffs to block their attacks before beating them up.

Oliver blocked Malcolm's sword with his bow, while Nyssa engaged Athena. Nyssa and Athena seemed to be evenly matched before Athena threw her down.

"You have the same footwork since you were eight years old." Athena noted.

"I should've known you'd never change." Oliver sneered as his bow crossed with Malcolm's sword.

"Oh, I have changed. Enough that I want my daughter by my side." Malcolm said as he pushed Oliver back and ran off.

* * *

Thea and Roy were ambushed by more assassins before engaging them. Thea managed to knock down one of them as she pummeled him. Roy knocked another assassin down and flipped forward, kicking him in the face. Roy got up and fired an arrow, shooting another assassin before Athena and more assassins entered, overpowering them as Malcolm showed up and Roy and Thea fell down.

"This is your legacy, Thea. Come with me. You can't run from this. If you keep denying yourself your destiny, I will have no choice but to hurt those you care about." Malcolm said.

"Curtis, I know you were wondering. It's from "Raiders"." Thea noted. "Kiss the floor!"

Malcolm realized what was she up to. "Move!"

Malcolm and his assassins barely dodged, when Thea pressed the pressure plate on the floor and arrows fired from the floor, grazing them, while Roy and Thea ran off.

"I've got Thea and the map." Roy called out.

"Let's move!" Oliver ordered as they ran out.

* * *

_**Later, elsewhere** _

The team gathered in another hideout, the same one which Oliver planned to use, in case the Foundry was ever compromised.

"Here. Let me help you." Roy said as he helped Thea take off her gear.

"That bitch's got a really powerful kick." Thea groaned. "I think she might have broken one of my ribs."

"I assure you that will be the last time you face her." Nyssa said.

"Uh, not that I'm complaining but is there a reason why didn't we go back to our original lair?" Curtis questioned.

"Because Merlyn knows exactly where we're hiding." Diggle noted and Curtis nodded, realizing he had a point.

"I had set up other hideouts as well in case we were compromised. We should be safe here. For now." Oliver said.

"Malcolm isn't going to give up that easily." Sara noted.

"I intend to take that choice out of his hands by taking the map far from here." Nyssa said as she turned to Thea. "I know the toll a father can have on a child. This is my burden, not yours."

"How are you gonna open it?" Sara asked as she turned to the box, while Curtis was checking it.

"I'll find someone, who can unlock the cipher." Nyssa said. "My people invented mathematics."

"This isn't just any ordinary box. This uses very sophisticated mathematics." Curtis said as he examined the box.

"Besides, with Merlyn and his assassins out there, you can't face them alone." Sara added.

"She's right." Thea agreed. "I didn't want any part in this at first but I can't let Malcolm do whatever he plans to do. Besides, Curtis is smart enough to open the box."

"I'm not sure if I can unlock it in time. I might need Felicity's help with this." Curtis said as he was examining the box.

Oliver sighed, not sure if he could trust her after what happened with Cayden James but they were running out of time as he turned to Diggle. "John—"

"I'll call Lyla." Diggle nodded.

* * *

Nyssa was looking at the tools as Sara showed up.

"I thought you were done with your father's past." Sara noted.

"So did Thea and look where that got her." Nyssa argued and Sara nodded.

"Ollie thinks she shouldn't have to take responsibility for her father's sins." Sara explained.

"Is he speaking from experience?" Nyssa asked.

"Look, I'm not sure if we have any say in what they decide to do with their lives and I understand Ollie wanting to take responsibility for his Dad's sins but I'm not sure Thea should carry such burden. And Ollie isn't either." Sara admitted.

"My father was also evil and I've dedicated the rest of my life to righting his wrongs. Reminds you of someone?" Nyssa pointed out and Sara nodded. "Just tell me, Sara, do you still love him?"

Sara stopped, taken aback a bit by that question.

"I will not be angry if you say 'Yes' but I just need to know." Nyssa said and Sara took a breath and the look in her eyes was all Nyssa needed as she smiled. "Then don't live your life filled with regrets over what might have been. Focus on what you can do for him now."

"Are you saying I should stop Ollie from stopping Thea?" Sara asked.

"I'm asking you to ask yourself what do you believe Oliver should decide." Nyssa said and Sara considered. She understood Oliver wanting to protect Thea but it was her choice to take responsibility for Malcolm's sins. So what would be the right choice to do?

* * *

"Thanks for helping us." Oliver said as he met Felicity with a bracelet monitor.

"That's the least I owe you." Felicity said before taking a breath. "Oliver… I'm sorry. For—"

"I know. Let's not worry about that now." Felicity said as she and Curtis were examining the box before a few minutes later, they figured it out.

"I think I got it!" Felicity cheered.

"Did you unlock the map?" Nyssa asked.

"No." Felicity said.

"Then what do you got?" Sara asked.

"I think I know how to unlock the Hellraiser cube, I just thought you should do the honors." Felicity explained.

"Do you know what Fibonacci's sequence is?" Curtis asked.

"Each number is a sum of the two preceding ones." Rene said, much to everyone's surprise. "I watched ' _The Da Vinci Code_ '. Great film."

"Rene's right. The tricky part with that box though is finding the starting two numbers." Felicity said.

"What are the starting numbers?" Oliver asked.

"Ten and thirteen." Nyssa said.

"Is she right?" Roy asked.

"1013 is when the League of Assassins was founded." Sara said.

"And Malcolm's birthday." Thea nodded.

"OK. Let's try it." Felicity said as Thea sat down, moving the tiles on the box. "Try 10, 13, 23, 36, 59…"

"95." Roy said, much to everyone's surprise. "I was always good at math."

Thea moved the tiles as the box opened. Thea looked inside it and saw a scroll that Nyssa picked.

"What does it say?" Oliver asked as Nyssa unrolled the scroll, revealing it to be completely blank.

"Nothing." Nyssa said.

"What do you mean, nothing? Are you telling me that we've been chasing a false trail this whole time?" Dinah demanded.

"Maybe not." Felicity said, trying to light up the scroll with a candle.

"Felicity, what are you doing?" Curtis asked, confused.

"She's heating it. The League writes in hidden text that can be revealed in flame." Nyssa explained.

"Maybe Merlyn used different invisible ink." Sara said before Oliver's phone went off as he looked at it.

"Private number." Oliver said as he answered the call. "Hello?"

" _I want to talk with my daughter, Oliver. Now._ " Malcolm said and Oliver seethed.

"What do you want, Malcolm?" Oliver said before Thea snatched the phone off his hand.

"If you think I'm gonna come with you—"

" _I think you do not have a choice in this matter._ " Malcolm interrupted her with a tone that Thea recognized.

"What did you do?" She demanded.

" _Star City gas plant. In 30 minutes. Or I will burn the whole city to the ground, if I have to. Or maybe worse, I'll use William again as a leverage._ "

Thea seethed. "You son of a—"

The call ended as she glared.

"Was it Malcolm?" Oliver asked as she nodded.

"He's in gas plant. He's threatening to blow the city up if I'm not gonna come with him and take the map, too and if I say 'no', he'll go after Samantha and William." Thea said as Oliver glared.

"You can't give into him." Nyssa protested.

"I can't let him hold the city hostage either, this is still my home." Thea said as she picked the scroll. "So, what, am I going alone?"

* * *

_**Star City** _

"Overwatch, Terrific, do you have eyes on the Guild?" Green Arrow called out as Team Arrow entered the gas plant.

" _No. Not yet._ " Felicity said.

" _But my T-Spheres detected a frequency spike, they just activated a bomb._ " Curtis said. " _Uh, you've got company._ "

"Where?" Arsenal asked.

"Everywhere." Nyssa realized.

"You want your map so bad? Come out." Speedy taunted. "Let's just talk about this."

Malcolm then entered, smirking. "I see I was able to teach you to see reason. But still, the map needs blood spilled."

"You're really starting to piss me off." Thea sneered and dodged, when Malcolm struck with his bow, while Arsenal dodged a bola arrow that Athena fired and Green Arrow's bow crossed with Malcolm's while Thea engaged Athena.

Spartan and Wild Dog shot the Guild assassins, while Nyssa, Black Canary and White Canary engaged them in close combat, Nyssa pushed one of the assassins back and blocked his attack with her sword, while Black Canary and White Canary attacked with their staffs, holding their own against the assassins.

* * *

"I got the bomb, it's 70 feet to your right, Roy." Curtis said.

"Lead the way." Roy said.

"Up." Curtis ordered.

* * *

Athena and Thea exchanged strikes with their swords before Athena threw Thea down and then cut her across her cheek.

Malcolm hesitated for a moment as he saw her injured, which gave Oliver an opening to attack with a fletchette but Malcolm barely reacted as Oliver tried to stab him in the heart and instead hit him in the shoulder.

"You can't deny Thea her legacy, Oliver." Malcolm said.

"You have no right to decide what her legacy is." Oliver sneered.

* * *

"It's a collapsible circuit." Curtis realized.

"I can freeze it, I've done it before." Roy said.

"No, it's a Mercury switch, you need to short-circuit it." Curtis protested.

"You know I'm kind of out of electricity arrows right now at the moment, Curtis?" Roy deadpanned. "Green Arrow?"

* * *

Oliver dodged Malcolm's sword as he turned to Roy. "On its way!"

Oliver fired an electricity arrow that Roy caught and jammed it into the bomb, short-circuiting it.

The distraction allowed Malcolm to knock Oliver down on the floor and was about to finish him off, when Sara blocked his sword with her baton.

"I should've killed you, when I had the chance." Sara sneered.

"I'll make sure you won't have anymore." Malcolm growled as they exchanged strikes before Malcolm retreated and looked around, realizing his men were being overpowered.

* * *

Athena and Thea clashed their swords before Athena threw Thea down.

"You have lost. It's as clear as your imminent death." Athena said.

"You have no idea what you're talking about." Thea sneered.

"I know that you bleed. I win." Athena said before Thea was about to throw the scroll into the fire, much to Athena's surprise. "You don't want to do that."

Athena tried to reach for the scroll but Thea stabbed her in the abdomen with a knife as Athena fell down and Thea got up.

"Are you alright?" Nyssa asked.

"Learned a few tricks from Merlyn." Thea said before they noticed that Athena and Malcolm had escaped. "Where did they go?"

"Merlyn isn't the only one hard to kill." Nyssa said as she turned to Thea. "Were you really going to burn it?"

"To ashes." Thea nodded.

"The other assassins either fled or they're wrapped up." Oliver said as he, Roy, Diggle, Rene, Dinah and Sara entered.

"Feels a bit like old times, doesn't it?" Sara quipped before they turned to the map in Thea's hand.

"Speedy, the map." Oliver said as the blank scroll revealed a map.

"They were being literal. They needed your blood to spill." Nyssa said.

"That's definitely not 'X marks the spot'." Thea said. "Where does it lead?"

"I believe I know where." Nyssa said.

* * *

**_Later, the Lair_ **

"That's why we couldn't see it with the fire. The map's printed with bacteria." Curtis said.

"Ugh, gross." Roy groaned.

"And when exposed to Thea's DNA, it revealed itself." Felicity explained.

"This is way too modern for any League methods." Sara said as they were examining the map.

"It requires atomic force microscope, bleeding edge tech, leave it to Merlyn." Felicity said.

"What does the map lead to?" Oliver asked.

"These are ley lines." Nyssa said.

"Like the ones with Darhk's idol?" Diggle asked.

"No, no, these are different." Nyssa said. "I thought they intersected in only one place on Earth."

"Apparently not." Sara said as she looked closely. "I thought this existed only in Nanda Parbat."

"What?" Oliver asked.

"I think I know now why Merlyn called his new league the Thanatos Guild." Nyssa said.

"Thanatos is the personification of death in Greek mythology." Felicity said.

"Exactly." Nyssa nodded.

"Son of a bitch." Sara muttered.

"What is it?" Thea asked.

"Your father discovered the existence of another Lazarus pit, alongside the grave of the first Ra's al Ghul." Nyssa explained. "Which means we're going to need help."

Oliver sighed and groaned, realizing who was she talking about. "Great."

* * *

_**Later** _

"I thought you were all good now." Thea said as she walked down the forest with Oliver and Sara.

"Well, not exactly." Oliver said before they neared the ruins and were ambushed by a group of ninjas. Oliver, Sara and Thea jumped at them, exchanging blows.

"Hold! Leave us."

They all stopped in their track as a woman in black hood appeared.

"Your students used to ask questions first." Oliver said.

"I have learned that hesitation often proves fatal." The woman said as she put down her hood. "You shouldn't have come looking for me, Oliver."

"You owe me a debt. I came to collect it, Talia." Oliver said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Frankly, Curtis is more useful as a tech support, considering how often Mr. Terrific got his ass kicked. As Diggle once said, Curtis is a dude version of Felicity.
> 
> And I didn't do the reveal with three Lazarus pits, since it IMO cheapens a bit the series and while it is an interesting storyline, it just doesn't work for this story.
> 
> Surprised to see Talia helping Oliver now? It will be explained the next chapter.
> 
> So, what do you guys think?
> 
> Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.


	8. A new problem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In Russia, Oliver and Sara find out that there is someone working for Diaz trying to settle a score.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The following chapters are going to take place shortly after Oliver and Sara took down Diaz in Russia and before they returned to Star City.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or the CW TV shows Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl or any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.

_**One week ago, Russia** _

"I think I can arrange flight for you back home very soon." Anatoly said as he talked with Oliver and Sara in his office.

"Thank you." Oliver said.

"I should be the one thanking you." Anatoly said as they all chuckled.

"I find it hard to believe you would do such things only for money." Sara pointed out.

"Desperate times, desperate measures. Or at least that's what I had been telling myself at the time." Anatoly said. "I think we'll never know."

Then, one of Anatoly's men entered. "We have a problem."

"What is it?" Anatoly asked.

* * *

"This all happened fast. No one saw it coming." The henchman explained as they entered one of the Bratva bars, all thugs either shot with arrows or cut with blades.

"Who would do this?" Anatoly wondered as Oliver and Sara narrowed their eyes, there was something familiar about the way they were killed.

"This is the League technique." Sara said, examining the wounds as Oliver picked one of the arrows and examined it and it took him only a second as he recognized the arrow.

"She's here." Oliver said.

"Who?" Anatoly asked, not understanding but Sara managed to catch up a moment later.

"Talia." Sara said and Anatoly paled.

"That crazy woman that you trained with five years ago?" Anatoly demanded and Oliver nodded. "Why would she do this?"

"She wants revenge on me because I killed her father. She's the one, who trained Chase." Oliver said and Anatoly groaned, glaring at Oliver as if he was stupid.

"Glupy. I told you she would be the source of your greatest pain." Anatoly said.

"They can't have been dead for more than two hours, maybe three." Sara said as she examined the wounds. "Which means she might be nearby."

"And her students as well." Oliver said.

* * *

"She did this to send a message to me." Oliver explained as he went out with Sara.

"Should've told Nyssa to let me kill her, when we had the chance." Sara muttered. "Do we have a way of tracking her?"

Oliver considered. "I'm not sure. It might be a long shot but it's the only lead we got."

* * *

Oliver and Sara and Anatoly entered the apartment, where Oliver was with Talia for a time, when he trained with her five years ago.

"Oliver, what if she knows we would look here in the first place? She's not stupid." Anatoly pointed out.

"Then we'll be ready." Oliver said as they searched the apartment.

"No one has used this apartment for a time." Sara noted.

"And it needs cleaning too." Anatoly noted as he saw the dust on the furniture.

"I don't think there's anything that would lead us to her." Oliver said before they heard voices and footsteps.

Oliver, Sara and Anatoly hid behind curtains and a wardrobe as some thugs entered the apartment.

"What makes you think she would come here? I doubt she's stupid enough to return here." The thug said.

"Maybe. But one can't be too careful." Another thug said. "Even if she did survive, boss wants send her a clear message that he is onto her."

They prepared some canisters with gasoline and tripwire, about to booby trap the door and windows before they noticed the fresh footsteps on the dusted floor.

"Someone was here."

Oliver, Sara and Anatoly prepared as one of the thugs looked behind a curtain and swore in Russian upon spotting Anatoly.

Anatoly grabbed his gun and punched him in the face as he fell down, while Oliver and Sara engaged the thugs, Sara slamming one of them to a table and Oliver kicking another one in the face and throwing him down. The remaining two thugs pulled out guns but Anatoly shot one of them, while Sara threw a knife, killing the other thug.

"Who are you?" Oliver demanded as he grabbed the thug by his throat. "What do you want? Tell me!"

The thug was silent as Sara neared the knife to his neck. "Tell us what we want to know or we're going to make a rug from your skin."

The thug paled as he breathed out. "Boss wanted to burn this apartment."

"Why? Who's your boss?" Oliver demanded.

"Onomatopoeia." The thug explained and Anatoly and Sara paled.

"Where is he?" Sara demanded.

"This place isn't burned, which means he knows I failed. I'm a dead man already." The thug said before he grabbed Sara's knife and jammed it into his own throat, killing himself as he fell down, dead.

"Damn it." Sara groaned as Oliver was confused.

"Who's this Ono…" Oliver stopped, trying to pronounce it correctly.

"Onomatopoeia." Anatoly said. "It's Greek for 'making a sound'."

"He's a serial killer, notoriously known around the whole world. The League hunted him for years. Never managed to get him, since he's a slippery one." Sara explained. "He might be just as dangerous as Chase."

"What is someone like him doing in Russia?" Oliver wondered.

"Oliver." Anatoly said as he checked the pockets of one of the dead thugs and saw photos of himself, members of Bratva and Oliver and Sara and then he looked at the cellphone the man had in his pocket. " _Sukin syn._ " He swore.

"What is it?" Sara asked.

"They work for Diaz. Or… 'worked' is the better term." Anatoly said as he glanced at the corpses. "I recognize the phone numbers, these people were on Diaz's payroll. They were targeting us, too."

"And Onomatopoeia worked for Diaz too." Oliver realized and Anatoly nodded.

"Looks like he's not happy we took down his boss." Anatoly noted as he checked his phone and read the message. "I just got an alert. He attacked one of our shops."

* * *

"Do you think we'll have any luck getting to him in time?" Sara asked as Anatoly drove down the city.

They heard gunshots in the garage.

"Does that answer your question?" Anatoly asked sarcastically.

* * *

The Bratva gangsters were shooting at a man wearing a black mask with white circles and black coat, who jumped over the crates and pulled out his guns, shooting them with deadly precision and single shots. The masked man engaged some of the gangsters in close combat but they were no match for his fighting skills as he effortlessly blocked and landed precise hits to ribs and pressure points, as the Bratva gangsters choked and then he twisted the head of one of them into 180 degree backwards before finishing them all off brutally.

The masked man whirled around as he sensed an arrow flying towards and caught it inches away from his forehead.

"Onomatopoeia, you have failed this city!" Oliver snarled.

"And you have failed in assessing your situation, Mr. Queen." Onomatopoeia said.

Oliver fired another arrow but Onomatopoeia flipped and grabbed a wrench, throwing it at Oliver as he dodged. Sara engaged him but Onomatopoeia dodged her batons and grabbed her arm. Sara attempted to kick him but Onomatopoeia caught her leg and threw her down.

Sara kicked him in the stomach as Onomatopoeia stumbled back. Sara got up and attempted to tackle him to the ground but Onomatopoeia held his ground as they exchanged blows before Onomatopoeia headbutted her and slammed her to the ground.

Oliver kicked him away from Sara as he glared. They both exchanged blows before Sara got up, both of them trying to take him down. Onomatopoeia blocked their punches and dodged before he landed a right hook at Oliver's face and blocked Sara's kick. Oliver spun around as Onomatopoeia dodged before Sara hit him in the face as he spat out blood and staggered back.

Onomatopoeia picked a wrench and threw it at the lever as the lift fell down with the car, about to crush Oliver and Sara.

"Move!" Oliver ordered, pushing Sara away as they both fell down.

Onomatopoeia was about to finish them off but ran off as he noticed someone above, firing arrows at him as the woman in black hood jumped down from above.

"You held back. I'm surprised you've lost focus."

Oliver's and Sara's blood ran cold, recognizing the voice as she put down her hood.

"It appears we are after the same prey." Talia said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this should be interesting.
> 
> I'll be honest, I've never been a fan of Talia as a character, since while she sometimes had antihero aspects and was against Ra's, more often, whether affiliated with her father or not, she showed more villainous traits and signs of megalomania of Lex's and Ra's level but I liked the dynamic she had with Oliver in the flashbacks in Season 5 and in the prison arc in Season 7 and her appearance in 8x03, where she showed that she can be reasonable, so that's what I'm trying to base her on here.
> 
> Now, I don't know much about Onomatopoeia as a character but from what I gather, he is able to hold his own, if only briefly, against heroes like Batman or Green Arrow but he was never able to defeat them but he was shown that he is not so easily defeated.
> 
> So, what do you guys think?
> 
> Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.


	9. On the hunt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver, Sara and Anatoly ally themselves with Talia to hunt down Onomatopoeia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or the CW TV shows Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl or any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.

Oliver and Sara prepared for a fight as Talia smiled, amused.

"If I was here after you, you would never see me coming." Talia said. "As I have said, we are after the same prey."

"Onomatopoeia?" Oliver asked and Talia nodded.

"Surprised you'd care about someone like him, considering what you wanted to do with us and our friends and families." Sara sneered.

"Where is he?" Oliver demanded.

"I don't know." Talia said.

"Liar." Oliver growled.

"I'm many things but liar is not one of them." Talia said, shooting them both a look.

"What are you even doing here in Russia? Why are you after him?" Sara asked. "Where did you go after Lian Yu?"

Talia turned around, seeming to stare at the wall. "After you put Mr. Chase into the cage where you put Wilson as well, I realized I had lost all my allies. So, I decided to hunt different prey than you. And Onomatopoeia is someone I've been chasing for years. A dishonorable monster. I've never caught him. Until now. And here I found the man, who murdered my father and the woman, who sided with him, who I looked up to, the traitor siding with him."

Oliver glared, seething as Sara remembered the child in Nanda Parbat, when she was stranded in the past.

"There was a time, Talia, when aligning yourself with a man like Adrian Chase would have been beneath you." Oliver pointed out. "You had to know his father was on the list too. The same list you convinced me to target. And yet you train him? And besides, your father was going to kill innocent people in my city, the same way Chase's father did. What does that make you? A hypocrite."

"I did what had to be done, to get what I want. Another lesson you seem to have forgotten." Talia said. "I taught you to separate the man from the monster. Yet you still try to have it both ways. Be a father. A friend. And a hero. And where did that get you? Everyone you care about, has easily become targeted because you split your focus. Do you think Mr. Chase would have been able to almost beat you if you had not forgotten my teachings? And how is it that you missed someone like Onomatopoeia or Diaz wreaking havoc in Russia? Perhaps I need to remind you." She turned around, smirking.

"You really think you can take us both on?" Sara challenged.

"As much as I'd like to test this, our interests are aligned. Truce, perhaps?" Talia asked.

"You expect us to work with you after all the pain and suffering that you inflicted on my friends and family?" Oliver demanded, both him and Sara looking incredulously at her.

"What does it tell you that I would even ask for your help after what you've done to mine?" Talia pointed out.

"You knew exactly, who your father was. It was either him or a city of innocent people." Oliver sneered.

"' _Innocent_ ' is a strong word to throw around Star City, Oliver." Talia said.

"Does the same apply to the people here in Russia?" Sara pointed out and Talia considered.

"This maniac is hunting Bratva like animals. No one deserves to die like that." Oliver said.

"Did you feel that same compassion for my father, when you rammed a sword through his chest?" Talia asked sarcastically.

"No. Because back then, I still allowed the monster, that you helped unleash, take over." Oliver pointed out.

"Don't insinuate that my father's death was somehow my fault." Talia sneered, about to pull out her sword.

"No. I…" Oliver raised his hand as Talia stopped. "Look, Ra's death was my fault. I couldn't see past what he intended to do to my city, so I didn't think to stop to think about his family and for that, I am truly sorry. I know you hate me but I was your student once and we trusted each other completely. And we need to trust each other again to find him."

Talia considered for a moment.

* * *

"If he is consistent, he'll want to keep a low profile. In the slums of the city." Talia said as they were on the rooftop, patrolling. "If I remember, he liked women. A lot of them."

"And he's using our whorehouses. Sukyn syn. Trying to leech of our success." Anatoly muttered in disgust as he watched through his goggles.

"Let's be ready. We're going to need to flank him." Talia said.

* * *

Onomatopoeia was making out with one of the prostitutes as he heard the door knock and opened the door and smiled at seeing Sara, who was wearing quite daring lingerie and a brunette wig and luckily, the hitman did not recognize her.

"Compliments of the house. Special gift." Sara teased, slowly unclipping her bra as the assassin smirked, lustfully eying her as he let her in and the other prostitute left.

"Welcome to my domain." Onomatopoeia teased as she sat down on the bed and he started to touch her thighs and Sara swallowed, restraining herself from snapping his neck. "Tell me, what does your heart desire—" He stopped as he saw the bruise on her arm and then noticed in the reflection of the window Sara having a knife behind her back as it hit him. "You."

"Surprise." Sara smirked.

Onomatopoeia dodged as she tried to slice him in the throat and disarmed her of her knife before grabbing her in chokehold. Sara slammed him to the wall but he was too strong to free herself from his grip.

"Trying to catch me off-guard, huh? Clever but you'll have to do better than that." Onomatopoeia said.

"Who says I'm not?" Sara taunted.

Oliver and Talia burst in through the windows and Onomatopoeia quickly let Sara go and dodged as they fired arrows before he pulled out his gun, forcing them to take cover as he fired.

"You OK?" Oliver asked Sara.

"I'm fine." Sara nodded

"We can't let him escape!" Talia said as she and Oliver followed him to the rooftop.

The assassin was at the edge of the rooftop and jumped to another rooftop before he sensed an arrow and dodged it. Talia whacked him in the face with her bow as Onomatopoeia stumbled back but he quickly regained his footing before pulling out a knife and Talia blocked it. They both crossed their weapons before Onomatopoeia dodged as Oliver fired an arrow. Onomatopoeia held his own against Oliver's and Talia's combined efforts briefly before they knocked him down.

"You've lost." Oliver said.

"I don't think so." Onomatopoeia said, throwing a knife at the cylinder around which was wrapped a cable as it rolled down the rooftop, with Talia's leg wrapped around the cable as she slid down the rooftop.

"Talia!" Oliver yelled, trying to reach her as Onomatopoeia ran. Talia managed to cut the cable but was holding onto the pipe as she was about to fall. "Talia. Take my hand!"

Talia hesitated briefly before reaching out as Oliver pulled her up as they breathed out. "Thank you." Talia said. "But what about him?"

Onomatopoeia jumped down from the rooftop and was about to open his car but then Anatoly then aimed his gun, forcing him to stop.

"There's nowhere to run." Anatoly said.

"You think you can kill me with a gun?" Onomatopoeia taunted.

"Maybe not. If I was alone." Anatoly said, leaving Onomatopoeia perplexed before Sara grabbed him in chokehold from behind.

"What does my heart desire? Your death." Sara said before snapping his neck and Anatoly shivered, never seeing her being so brutal.

"You've come a long way. I remember when you were too scared to even knock Hendrik out and the most ruthless thing you were capable of was blowing someone up." Anatoly said.

"You have no idea how much can change over years." Sara shrugged and Anatoly nodded, chuckling.

* * *

"It appears our hunt is at an end." Talia said as she narrowed her eyes at Oliver. "You could have let me die. Why didn't you?"

"Like I said, we used to trust each other completely." Oliver said and Talia considered.

"I underestimated you. You've come a long way, Oliver." Talia said. "And perhaps I was wrong."

"Separating the monster into two didn't make it better. It just made the monster stronger." Oliver said and Talia considered.

"You saved my life. I will not forget this." Talia said as she was about to leave.

"Does that mean we're not enemies anymore?" Oliver asked as Talia stopped.

"Well, that would depend on what favor are you going to ask me to do." Talia said as she walked away.

"The Daughter of the Demon owing you a favor." Sara mused. "Might come in handy one day."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I liked the dynamic that Oliver and Talia had in flashbacks in Season 5 and 7x05, which inspired me to do this.
> 
> Frankly, Talia's reasoning for allying herself with Chase and training him are in hindsight stupid and it makes her a hypocrite, since she's the one, who convinced Oliver to target the List on which Claybourne was, yet she helped Chase get revenge on Oliver but in most portrayals, she is obsessively loyal to Ra's to the point of being beyond reason but in some of them she is portrayed as an antihero, who would also allied herself with Bruce to stop Ra's schemes. But, seriously, her reasoning for helping Chase, since Ra's wanted to kill thousands of innocent and Oliver stopped him? Wow. It's astonishing how the writers find new ways to hate Oliver and don't get me started on what they did to him in Crisis on Infinite Earths but at least Oliver got a proper send-off and tribute at the end of the crossover.
> 
> So, what do you guys think?
> 
> Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.


	10. Leap of faith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver, Sara, Thea and Roy join forces with Talia to get to the grave of first Ra's before Malcolm and the Thanatos Guild.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or the CW TV shows Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl or any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.

**_Present_ **

"The four of you are coming here at great peril." Talia said, eying Oliver, Sara, Thea and Roy.

"You're back to your old exploits, I see?" Oliver asked.

"With the League gone, the region has become quite unstable." Talia explained.

"And you think training a bunch of assassins in a place like this is gonna stabilize it?" Thea questioned.

"I think it a wiser course of action than declaring a war on the Thanatos Guild with the group as small as yours." Talia smirked.

"Much as we would like to have a debate with you, Talia, we need to know what do you know about the first Ra's al Ghul. Malcolm and the Guild are seeking his grave, alongside…"

"…the first Lazarus pit that ever existed." Talia nodded.

"I think we can agree someone like Merlyn shouldn't have his hands on something like that." Oliver said.

"If I help you, I can consider my debt paid?" Talia asked.

"Yes." Oliver nodded.

"I think we might find some information underneath Karan Shah." Talia said.

"The League's former stronghold." Sara said.

"It has since been destroyed but my father kept the League records in the catacombs, so with any luck, they're still there, waiting to be found." Talia said as she walked off. "We leave at nightfall."

"She's still fun." Thea quipped.

* * *

_**Later, Karan Shah** _

"Did Nanda Parbat look like that?" Roy asked as they went down the abandoned corridors of the ruined stronghold with Talia holding a torch.

"If this place took few renovations, yeah." Thea nodded. "Love what they haven't done with the place."

"I'm surprised you're helping us." Nyssa noted, sneering at Talia.

"As much as you might spite me, I still have some honor. And I'm willing to move past our grudge for now. Are you?" Talia questioned and Nyssa was silent. As much as she wanted to settle a score with her sister, there was more at stake.

"For now." Nyssa nodded.

"Assuming the Karan Shah hasn't been plundered, we're likely to find what we're looking for in ' _The Chronicles of Al-Fatih_ '." Talia said. "He was the first Ra's al Ghul. According to legend, he vowed to protect his people with a small army of followers."

Talia pressed a hidden switch as the rock shifted, revealing hidden door as they entered the corridor and saw that the room had been ransacked.

"Looks like we're too late." Oliver noted.

"Not necessarily." Talia said as she put down her bow and opened a scroll, laughing. "The Chronicles of-Al Fatih."

"Why steal everything valuable and leave behind the one thing that we've been looking for?" Roy wondered.

"They didn't think it was worth anything to them." Nyssa explained.

"What's it say?" Oliver asked.

" _The phoenix is reborn in the fire._ " Thea read. " _The path to your destiny follows me._ "

"Speedy, you just read Arabic." Oliver said.

"You speak Russian." Thea countered.

" _The phoenix is reborn in the fire…_ " Roy repeated. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Every new recruit in the League must let their old selves die, so that their new may be reborn." Nyssa explained.

Then it hit Oliver as he picked a torch. "We need to burn the scroll."

"The scroll is centuries old." Talia protested.

"Yeah." Oliver said as he burned the scroll and then found out that inside it was wrapped some metallic ball.

"Al-Fatih was a very paranoid man. He wouldn't let any traitor get to his secrets." Nyssa said as Talia was examining the inscriptions on the ball.

"I believe this leads to Al-Fatih's tomb." Talia said. "It stands to reason that he would attempt to take his secrets with him beyond the grave."

"A scavenger hunt then?" Sara asked.

"It would appear so, yes." Talia said.

"Why can't everything just be easy?" Thea groaned.

"When will you learn that things are rarely easy?"

They all whirled around to see Malcolm, Athena and the Thanatos Guild assassins enter.

"Mr. Merlyn. Athena." Talia smirked.

"Your loyalty to your father has always wavered, Talia. But bringing outsiders to the sacred heart of the League? How the mighty have fallen." Malcolm taunted. "That ball. Hand it over. Or you will all die."

Talia smirked. "As you wish."

"Sister…" Nyssa cautioned as Talia threw the ball to Malcolm.

"Kill them. But leave my daughter alive." Malcolm ordered as the Guild assassins attacked them.

Oliver dodged and blocked with his bow as one of the assassins attacked with his sword and threw him away and knocked another assassin down. They exchanged blows before Oliver knocked them down. Roy dodged and threw another assassin against a shelf as it crashed before jumping over the pedestal and kicking another assassin. Sara kicked back another assassin and blocked their blades with her batons, while Thea blocked another assassin's sword with her bow. Talia engaged Athena in swordfight, while Nyssa did the same with Malcolm.

The assassin pinned Thea to the wall but Oliver and Roy knocked him back. Talia kicked Athena in the midsection as Athena stumbled back. Nyssa dodged as Malcolm aimed at her neck before their swords crossed.

"You couldn't beat me last time." Malcolm sneered.

"I held back. This time I won't." Nyssa said and Malcolm jumped back as she scratched his armor before Talia threw a flashbang to the ground, blinding Malcolm and his followers as they escaped.

* * *

"Malcolm showing up right when we did can't be an accident." Oliver noted.

"No, and neither was her giving Malcolm the sphere." Thea noted as they all shot Talia looks.

"If you're accusing me, I'd like to point out few things. First, I despise someone as dishonorable as Mr. Merlyn and Athena and I are blood enemies." Talia said.

"And the second?" Sara questioned.

"He was most likely trailing you." Talia pointed out.

"Why would Merlyn give a damn about some rusty old scroll buried with Al-Fatih?" Roy questioned.

"He wouldn't. He would give a damn about what else is buried with him, namely his sword as revered as the ring of Ra's." Talia said.

"If Merlyn gets his hand on Al-Fatih's sword, he will be able to restart the League of Assassins, since whoever wields the sword commands absolute devotion." Nyssa explained.

"And now he's got the marble of destiny or whatever." Thea muttered.

"Actually, it's a map." Talia explained. "The markings on it were constellations indicating the tomb's location but we don't need it. I memorized them."

"What? You memorized them?" Oliver asked as they all stopped, eying Talia with skepticism and suspicion.

"You didn't?" Talia asked as they all shot her glares.

"I see some things don't change, do they, sister?" Nyssa sneered.

Then they heard footsteps.

"We should set up lookouts. Who knows how long before Merlyn catches up with us." Roy noted.

"Go on ahead. I'll stay with Talia." Oliver ordered.

"Ollie, are you sure?" Thea asked.

"Thea. Do you trust me?" Oliver asked and Thea nodded.

"If you as much as even think about betraying him…" Nyssa said as they glared at Talia.

"Then you'll kill me? Apparently, there will be a line." Talia jested as she eyed Thea, Nyssa, Sara and Roy, all of them eying her with suspicion.

* * *

Talia and Oliver went down the woods.

"How much further?" Oliver asked.

"Patience. You realize they're all involved in this with you, whether you want it or not? Especially your sister. She's the Daughter of the Demon." Talia pointed out. "She has a claim to the sword."

"She's carried enough of Malcolm's burdens." Oliver protested.

"Fate does not care what we believe we're owed." Talia said. "You're very familiar with that."

"What do you mean?" Oliver asked, not understanding.

"You take responsibility for everyone around you. Something I've seen with you in Russia before. This is the place." Talia said as they stopped at the cliff and Oliver realized where they were but it wasn't covered in snow this time.

"I've been here before." Oliver said, remembering where he dueled Ra's.

"Yes. Where my father vanquished you. Hopefully you have better luck with the mountain this time." Talia teased.

They went forward before hearing 'clang' and creaking as Oliver stepped on a pressure plate.

"Down!" Oliver ordered as he and Talia crouched, while arrows fired from hidden turrets as they saw the pillar at the edge of the cliff.

"The phoenix up there, triggering the spears!" Talia said.

"I have an idea." Oliver said, firing an arrow at the phoenix and the turrets stopped firing before they went towards it and a compartment opened in the pillar, revealing a piece of cloth and a metal key.

"The key to the crypt of Ra's." Talia said as she looked at the cloth, revealing it to be a map.

"Looks like the entrance is right there." Oliver said, pointing at the map.

"Yes." Talia nodded before pocketing the map and then she jammed a dart into Oliver's neck as he was slowly passing out.

"What are you doing?" Oliver whispered.

"I am sorry, Oliver. I can't let Merlyn get to the sword but I can't let your or my sister get it either." Talia said as darkness claimed Oliver and he fell down the stairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what do you guys think?
> 
> Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.


	11. The Demon's legacy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver, Sara, Roy, Thea, Nyssa and Talia try to get to Al-Fatih's tomb before Malcolm and the Thanatos Guild.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or the CW TV shows Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl or any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.

When Oliver came to, Sara, Roy, Thea and Nyssa were standing at his side as they helped him get up.

"Looks like you're down one evil companion." Thea joked.

"Didn't I tell you to stay behind?" Oliver muttered.

"Pity we didn't ignore you soon enough." Sara said.

"Hey, I don't have time for an 'I told you so'." Oliver groaned.

"My sister is going to take the trail to the summit." Nyssa said. "She won't be exhausting herself so much. We'll need to go up the face of the mountain to get ahead of her and Merlyn."

"Thought you said it was harder." Thea said.

"I've done it before." Oliver said.

"OK. If you can do it, we can do it." Thea said.

"Thea…" Oliver shot her a look.

"Ollie, just stop it. Start walking." Thea said.

* * *

They climbed up the mountain wall before Oliver and Thea sat down, taking rest.

"Thought you said this was the hard part." Thea said.

"Don't get cocky." Oliver warned as they all stared at the sunrise.

"Are you sure we'll get ahead of Merlyn in time?" Roy asked.

"I hope so." Oliver said, staring at the horizon.

"What is going on with you, Ollie? You look worried." Thea said. "I mean, more worried than usual."

"Slade told me that I'm walking between two worlds and that I'll have to choose. Between being a father or the Green Arrow." Oliver said. "I'm trying but… this isn't something I can't just walk away from. I'm trying to be the father he needs but… how am I supposed to stop, knowing what's going on? First Anatoly and Diaz and Onomatopoeia, now Malcolm and the Thanatos Guild? If I'm not going to help with that, who is?"

"No one says it has to be your responsibility only. To be the Green Arrow." Sara said.

"We're with you until the end of the line." Roy said.

"I've been trying to honor my Dad, Tommy, Shado, Yao Fei, Mom… To honor their legacy." Oliver said. "But then when you died…" He turned to Sara. "I realized it would be me too, one day. And even though I know my legacy isn't going to die with me… how can I be sure someone can protect my city even better than I ever have? I'm just worried about everyone's safety. How can I protect both my city and my family at the same time?"

"You know, I've been thinking a lot about Mom and Dad lately." Thea said. "Wondering what they would think about the lives we've chosen. All the mistakes they made, all the… lies they told in their own very, very messed up way. They thought they were protecting us."

"They weren't. They didn't." Oliver said.

"No but… it did help us become the people we are today." Thea noted and Oliver shrugged. "They turned us into heroes. We can't change the future, Ollie. The past teaches us you might as well not bother trying to."

"When you'd stop being my baby sister?" Oliver chuckled as they all smiled proudly at Thea.

"No. I never did. I just grew up a little bit." Thea said, gesturing with her fingers. "Now can we please get off this mountain?"

"Yeah." Oliver said.

* * *

They climbed up to the top and approached the entrance, only to notice that it had been opened already.

"We're not alone." Oliver said before they turned around, hearing footsteps as Malcolm, Athena and the Guild assassins appeared with restrained Talia.

"Apparently, this day isn't going the way either of us have planned." Talia said.

"I think we can agree the numbers aren't in your favor." Malcolm said.

"What do you want?" Thea demanded.

"The route the Al-Fatih's crypt might not be safe." Malcolm said as one of his men cut Talia's restraints. "We need some sacrificial lambs to find a safe route."

They entered the tomb, with Oliver holding a torch.

"Underground in Nanda Parbat. What could possibly go wrong?" Thea drawled as Oliver lit up the remaining torches in the tomb. "Well, Indiana Jones made this look way more fun."

Talia read the inscription on the coffin. " _To survive death, you must embrace it._ "

"Well, how do you embrace death?" Oliver questioned. "The coffin. Come on."

They opened the coffin, revealing hidden stairwell going down.

"What are you waiting for?" Malcolm asked.

They went downstairs and saw a rope with a hole leading them to the lower level.

"Prisoners first." Athena said as they saw the tiles on the floor. "Watch your step."

They descended down as Thea saw the symbol above the door. "Ollie. A Phoenix."

"Alright. Crypt must be through there." Oliver said.

"OK." Thea said, about to approach the door but Oliver pulled her away.

"Thea!" Oliver yelled as flames burst from the wall.

"Thank you." Thea said, panting out.

"Be careful. Anything happens to her, you'll suffer fate worse than death." Malcolm growled.

They noticed another inscription on the floor as Talia read it. " _All beings burn, but a Phoenix rises from the ashes._ "

"You see the phoenix tiles?" Sara asked, examining the floor.

"I think we need to use them to get across." Thea said.

"Just like Indiana Jones, right?" Roy noted.

Talia and Malcolm's assassins jumped at the tiles with phoenix but one of them slipped, triggering the flamethrowers and burning them to death as Talia got across.

Oliver, Sara, Roy, Thea and Nyssa followed Talia.

"Don't let them enter the tomb!" Malcolm ordered as he went forward with Athena.

"You hold them off, I'll get Talia." Thea ordered.

"Thea—"

"Just trust me!" Thea told Oliver as she entered the tomb.

Oliver, Roy and Nyssa shot down Malcolm's men as Malcolm and Athena blocked their arrows with their swords, while rushing forward and Sara engaged one of Malcolm's men.

* * *

Talia entered the tomb, picking Al-Fatih's sword, astonished by holding it.

"Talia?" Thea called out as Talia turned around.

"You're too late." Talia said as Thea picked a sword from a stand.

"As Heir to the Demon, I have the right to challenge you to combat." Thea said.

"You wish to fight me?" Talia asked. "Very well, I accept. I hope you prove to be a worthy opponent."

* * *

Oliver, Nyssa and Roy shot down two more assassins, while Sara kicked another assassin before they dodged, when Malcolm and Athena attacked them with their swords.

Oliver blocked Malcolm's sword with his bow, while Sara and Roy jumped back before Athena could cut them with her sword and Nyssa engaged her.

* * *

Thea and Talia fenced with their swords, seeming evenly matched before Talia grabbed Thea's hand and cut her across her chest as Thea gasped.

"Your father and brother trained you well. Pity the tools they learned, they learned from my father and me." Talia said.

"Less talking, more fighting." Thea sneered as they resumed their duel.

* * *

Roy blocked Athena's sword with his bow as she kicked Sara back. Nyssa grabbed Athena, throwing her back as she fell towards the trigger tiles, triggering more traps as rubble fell down from above and crushed her.

This distraction allowed Oliver to disarm Malcolm of his sword with his bow before Oliver punched him in the chest and knocked him down. Sara kicked the sword away, so that Malcolm could not reach it, so instead Malcolm got up and attempted to attack with his knife but Oliver dodged before stabbing him in the leg with a fletchette and Malcolm kneeled down. Oliver then finished him off by driving an arrow into his heart.

"This was for my parents. Tommy. Sara. Thea. Laurel. The young boy that I once was, who went onto a boat with his father until your bomb destroyed his life." Oliver sneered and Malcolm seethed before he fell back, glaring and gasping for air before he drew his last breath and tilted his head, light leaving his eyes.

* * *

Despite Thea's training, Talia was more skilled and experienced as she kicked Thea in the legs, while she fell down and Talia pointed her sword at her.

"You were a fool to think you could defeat me." Talia said.

Thea crawled back and grabbed a chain from the pillar as she got up. "Actually, you're right where I want you."

Thea dodged, when Talia attempted to cut her head off and grabbed the chain, wrapping it around Talia's neck, choking her.

"Do you yield?" Thea sneered as Talia groaned, struggling for breath as Thea pulled the chain, tightening the grip. For a moment, it seemed that Thea would kill her before Talia, much to their surprise, surrendered.

"I yield." Talia choked out. Thea let her go as Talia gasped for air, taking deep breaths.

* * *

"I see I'm not the only one who has seen reason now." Nyssa mused as they went out, surprised that Talia had changed before they saw her walking out with a backpack.

"You're leaving?" Thea asked.

"I have betrayed my honor and the sacred traditions of the League." Talia said. "The sword was destined to be yours, daughter of Merlyn. I am sorry for the pain that I've caused to you. All of you." She said genuinely to Oliver, Sara, Roy, Thea and Nyssa.

"And your students?" Sara asked.

"I've released them." Talia said. "They will follow you, if that is what you wish."

"It's not." Thea protested. "You're their teacher. They need someone to follow."

"If I was meant to lead them, I would wield Al-Fatih's sword but you do, so the honor and burden are yours." Talia explained.

"Yeah. Hard pass." Thea said, not wanting to have such responsibility.

"It is your destiny." Talia said.

"Sister, I've come to realize recently that destiny may not be carved into stone." Nyssa pointed out. "We can decide our own fates."

"Meaning?" Talia questioned.

"Maybe this world doesn't need another League of Assassins." Thea said. "It could use League of Heroes. It wouldn't be a one-woman job."

"You'd extend me that honor despite my betrayals?" Talia asked.

"We've all made mistakes." Sara said as Oliver nodded.

"Not one but two, three women to wield my father's sword? He would be aghast." Talia considered before smiling, amused at the thought. "I accept."

She shook her hand with Thea.

* * *

"League of Heroes?" Oliver questioned. "Sounds a bit cheesy."

"I'm working on the name. Give me a break." Thea said.

"I'm proud of you, Thea." Oliver said. "You've done what you could, to right Malcolm's mistakes, just like I tried to right my father's. I know I shouldn't have to but… you'll always be my little sister."

"I'll be OK, Ollie. Don't worry. Sometimes… sometimes the best thing, even if it may be the hardest thing you need to do in your life… is let go." Thea said.

"Just be careful." Oliver said as they hugged each other tightly.

"I will." Thea said. "And I still have Roy with me, in any case."

"Actually, there is something I need to talk with Roy about." Oliver said, turning to him.

* * *

_**Later, Star City** _

Sara was watching TV in Oliver's apartment as he entered.

"Well?"

"William was scared as hell about me but I assured him that I'll be fine." Oliver said. "Roy is going on his first round as the Green Arrow with the team."

"You think he can handle it?" Sara asked.

"I'm not sure." Oliver said.

"Ever imagined if you and me or you and Laurel ever had family? Children?" Sara asked.

"I… there were times when I wondered. But with this city needing me…" Oliver paused.

"We'll figure it out." Sara held his hand as they stared.

They kissed and laid down on the couch, halfway to tearing each other's clothes off, when suddenly, Oliver's phone rang and they stopped. Oliver answered the call and then his face turned to one of big surprise. "Hi. OK. I'll be there. Uh-huh. Alright."

Oliver hung up and his face turned into one of apprehension as he looked at Sara cautiously.

"That doesn't sound good." Sara noted as Oliver turned to her.

"That was Slade Wilson. He needs our help." Oliver said, much to Sara's shock.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, we're moving to the Deathstroke arc, which is going to be the final arc of this story. I've been looking forward to this.
> 
> So, what do you guys think?
> 
> Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.


	12. Deathstroke returns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Slade asks Oliver and Sara to help him find his son but they realize things are not as simple as they had thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or the CW TV shows Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl or any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.

" _Oliver, Pollard and Kullens need you to discuss with them the anti-vigilante bill and they're not exactly patient._ " Quentin said, talking with Oliver over the phone.

"Tell them I'll attend the meeting someday later, they should postpone it, I might not make it for at least a few hours." Oliver said. "Can you handle it until I get back?"

" _Yeah. I'll handle it. The worst thing I might have to do is make sure Rene doesn't propose some ridiculous bill._ " Quentin said sarcastically as Oliver hung up.

"Sorry, that was work." Oliver said as he turned to Slade.

"I appreciate the meeting." Slade said.

"You helped me find my son. The least I can do is help you find Joe." Oliver said.

"He doesn't go by that name anymore." Slade told him.

"He changed his name?" Sara asked.

"It was his mother's idea." Slade said. "Her maiden name. He goes by 'Kane' now."

"What happened to him?" Oliver asked.

"I tracked him to Calgary but by then he'd gone, so I followed him to Ibiza and then Mombasa." Slade said.

" _Mombasa_?" Oliver repeated as Slade got up.

"The kid took after his father. While we were stuck on Lian Yu, he went out and joined the Australian Intelligence Service. Then, a week ago in Kasnia, a mission went south. He was dealing in arms, some locals caught him. Supposedly, he didn't get a fair trial and now he's… serving a life sentence like a rat in a cage." Slade explained.

"What exactly do you need from us, Slade?" Sara asked.

"I need you two to help me find my son." Slade said.

"Last week you told me that I couldn't live in two worlds." Oliver pointed out.

"I'm not asking you to come back in. Strangely enough, what I need is diplomacy, which means I don't want the Green Arrow. I need Oliver Queen." Slade requested.

"For what?" Oliver questioned Slade's intentions.

"Can I ask you just to trust me on this one, kid? I've organized transport to Kasnia. Wheels up at 2200." Slade said as he passed by them towards the door before facing them again. "I'll understand if you don't want to join me… but if you do, I'll meet out front at 2100, OK, kid?"

Oliver and Sara nodded as Slade left, while Sara stared in contemplation.

"I don't know, Ollie." Sara said.

"He helped us save William and Quentin. That the least we owe him." Oliver pointed out.

"I know. It's just that…" Sara sighed. I know he's not the same person he was after the Mirakuru but… I just can't shake this feeling that one way or another, Slade's gonna get us into trouble again." She rubbed her face, not sure what to do. "Ollie, just tell me honestly, you're going with him because you want to or because you feel like you owe him?"

"I'm worried if I don't go, he'll take a more aggressive approach." Oliver said after a moment and Sara nodded. Even without Mirakuru, Slade wasn't exactly known for his restraint.

"I know. But this isn't about Deathstroke. It's about his son. Or am I wrong?" Sara pointed out.

* * *

_**Later, Star City** _

Slade was checking his watch as he put a bag into his SUV.

"How long is this flight?" Oliver asked as Slade turned around to see him and Sara.

"It's about 12 hours long, by the way. Thanks for coming." Slade said.

"You may not be my favorite person at the moment but you saved our families. The least we owe you is to help you save yours." Sara said.

"Let's go get your boy." Oliver said.

* * *

_**Later, Kasnia, afternoon** _

"So, where's your point of contact?" Oliver questioned as he, Sara and Slade walked down the street.

"I don't know. His name's Nylander. Foreign associate of mine from back in the service days." Slade said. "He's a bit of a jackass and never on time."

"He's not that bad." An accented voice said as they turned to see a man with long hair and a beard as the man laughed. "Haha, Slade Wilson. The Terminator." Nylander and Slade gave each other a hug.

"I haven't heard that name in a while." Slade said. "See you're running later than usual."

"Yeah, I was with a girl. Forget about it. Look at you." Nylander patted Slade and eyed him. "Mirakuru did you wonders, huh?" Slade looked down in shame and winced. "Oh, wat, you're not sensitive about that treat, are you? You were quite the madman, I hear."

"You promised me something. Did you bring it or did I waste my time traveling seven thousand miles for you to screw with me?" Slade warned.

Nylander pulled out a file from his bag. "Truth be told, I'm glad you got your marbles back." He turned to Oliver and Sara. "So, who are they?"

"They're friends of mine, don't worry about them." Slade said and Sara scoffed, while he looked through the file.

"With you, I always worry." Nylander said.

"This should work. Thank you." Slade said.

"That's it? Just 'Thank you'? No extravagant dinner, no pints?" Nylander teased.

"Maybe next time, when my son isn't rotting in a third world prison." Slade drawled.

"He's lucky to have you as a father." Nylander said as Slade was about to walk away.

"My son wouldn't be in this mess if anybody else was his father." Slade replied.

"Just be careful, kamrat. Your boy was snooping around some private op mercenaries, um… not so nice guys." Nylander said.

Slade turned around to face him. "Under certain circumstances, I'm not so nice a guy."

Oliver and Sara eyed Nylander with suspicion, sure there was something off about him before they followed Slade.

* * *

_**Later, Star City** _

Slade was checking his watch as he put a bag into his SUV.

"How long is this flight?" Oliver asked as Slade turned around to see him and Sara.

"It's about 12 hours long, by the way. Thanks for coming." Slade said.

"You may not be my favorite person at the moment but you saved our families. The least we owe you is to help you save yours." Sara said.

"Let's go get your boy." Oliver said.

* * *

_**Later, Kasnia, afternoon** _

"So, where's your point of contact?" Oliver questioned as he, Sara and Slade walked down the street.

"I don't know. His name's Nylander. Foreign associate of mine from back in the service days." Slade said. "He's a bit of a jackass and never on time."

"He's not that bad." An accented voice said as they turned to see a man with long hair and a beard as the man laughed. "Haha, Slade Wilson. The Terminator." Nylander and Slade gave each other a hug.

"I haven't heard that name in a while." Slade said. "See you're running later than usual."

"Yeah, I was with a girl. Forget about it. Look at you." Nylander patted Slade and eyed him. "Mirakuru did you wonders, huh?" Slade looked down in shame and winced. "Oh, wat, you're not sensitive about that treat, are you? You were quite the madman, I hear."

"You promised me something. Did you bring it or did I waste my time traveling seven thousand miles for you to screw with me?" Slade warned.

Nylander pulled out a file from his bag. "Truth be told, I'm glad you got your marbles back." He turned to Oliver and Sara. "So, who are they?"

"They're friends of mine, don't worry about them." Slade said and Sara scoffed, while he looked through the file.

"With you, I always worry." Nylander said.

"This should work. Thank you." Slade said.

"That's it? Just 'Thank you'? No extravagant dinner, no pints?" Nylander teased.

"Maybe next time, when my son isn't rotting in a third world prison." Slade drawled.

"He's lucky to have you as a father." Nylander said as Slade was about to walk away.

"My son wouldn't be in this mess if anybody else was his father." Slade replied.

"Just be careful, kamrat. Your boy was snooping around some private op mercenaries, um… not so nice guys." Nylander said.

Slade turned around to face him. "Under certain circumstances, I'm not so nice a guy."

Oliver and Sara eyed Nylander with suspicion, sure there was something off about him before they followed Slade.

* * *

_**Later, hotel** _

"I call this play ' _Liberty Watch_ '." Slade handed Oliver a pamphlet. "A famous American mayor comes to small, war-torn Kasnia, to fight for the release of a man, who has been wrongfully accused."

"That's very clever." Oliver acknowledged.

"Like I said, it's a diplomatic solution." Slade said.

"Well, Slade, still, I don't think they're gonna free your son just because I give them a photo op." Oliver pointed out.

"Well, the photo op is just to gain an entry." Slade explained. "Of course they'll need a reason to release him and here are fifty thousand." He opened a briefcase full of cash.

"Where did you get that much money?" Sara questioned, not helping herself.

"Leftover from when I ran the Church of Blood." Slade pointed out and Oliver and Sara nodded, as it made sense.

"Assuming this works, where do we meet?" Oliver asked.

"When you pick up Joe, go straight to the airport." Slade said. "Here is an alias passport for him and tickets for the three of you to London."

"You're not even going to see your son?" Sara questioned as Slade was about to leave before he faced them again.

"I need you to promise me that you won't tell him I helped." Slade said.

"No. I'm not going to lie to your son." Oliver protested.

"It's better this way." Slade explained.

"For him or for you?" Sara questioned. "Why are you trying to avoid seeing him?"

Then it hit Oliver. "Wait, are you… are you afraid he's gonna see you as Deathstroke, not the man you were, the man we think you are now?"

"I gave up my right to be his father, when I stepped out of the light into the shadows and became this monster." Slade said, making Sara realize that he was going through the same struggle she once was. She had been avoiding Oliver and her family because she was afraid they'd see her as a monster, knowing what she had done, while being a member of the League of Assassins.

"Your son will forgive you the way that my son forgave me." Oliver said.

"Joe knew that I was coming to look for him, so he contacted his mother and she sent me a message to stay away." Slade explained. "You got your second chance, kid and I'm happy for you. Some fathers aren't that lucky."

* * *

_**Later, prison** _

"Mr. Queen." The warden said as he got up from his desk as Oliver and Sara entered his office.

"Thank you for taking the time." Oliver said as the warden shook his hand with Sara too. "Sara. A… colleague of mine." Oliver explained.

"It's not every day I meet a celebrity." The warden said.

"I'm not famous." Oliver protested.

"I saw you on news once. You punched a man with camera." The warden said and Oliver felt uncomfortable, while Sara chuckled.

"Yeah, I sure did." Oliver muttered as the warden sat down.

"I understand you're with organization in hopes…"

"…to request the release of one of your prisoners. Kane Wolfman." Oliver explained and the warden sighed, grim expression on his face as Oliver and Sara stiffened.

"I wish you'd come earlier."

* * *

_**Later, hotel** _

Oliver and Sara entered the hotel room, while Slade was staring outside the window and Slade turned around, surprised that Joe was not with them. "What are you doing back here? Where is my son?"

"There… there was a fight in the prison yard that Joe tried to break up." Oliver explained hesitantly and Slade looked on verge of tears, realizing where this was going. "Someone pushed and he hit his head. He's gone."

Realizing she was intruding, Sara left them in privacy as Oliver and Slade sat down, for almost an hour, letting the news sink in.

"He never knew…" Slade murmured.

"Never knew what?" Oliver questioned as Slade looked at the photo of himself and Joe back in Milford Sound from years ago.

"That I loved him." Slade explained.

"You were his father. Trust me, he knew." Oliver assured him.

"I don't remember the last time…" Slade breathed out as tear streamed down his cheek. "…when I told him."

"I should've come with you to the prison." Slade said as he got up. "I know it wouldn't have made any difference but… at least I could've seen him. Said goodbye."

"We still can." Oliver said as he got up on his feet. "You can still say goodbye." Slade turned to him, nodding.

* * *

_**Later, prison** _

Oliver, Sara and Slade returned to the prison, much to the warden's surprise. "Mr. Queen, I was not expecting a return visit."

"Warden, this is Kane Wolfman's father." Oliver introduced Slade. "He wishes to see his son's body."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible." The warden protested.

"Why? You said he passed only days ago." Oliver said, not understanding.

"Yes but-"

"Warden, where's the body?" Oliver insisted.

"It is no longer in my possession." The warden said hesitantly.

"Then where is my son's body?!" Slade snarled, nearing the warden and Oliver put a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him down.

"Hey, hey, easy. Easy." Oliver soothed him while it looked like Slade was about to tear the warden apart with his bare hands, much like he could do with Mirakuru in him. Luckily, Sara wasn't sure whether more to the warden's or Slade's, Slade stepped back and calmed down.

"He's lying." Sara pointed out and Oliver and Slade nodded.

"Do you want me to contact Liberty Watch? Do you want me to cause an international incident? Because I am prepared to do both." Oliver threatened.

"The situation is complicated." The warden attempted to explain.

"Then uncomplicate it!" Slade snarled and Oliver again had to hold him back and Sara had a immediate flashback from Slade's Mirakuru rampage back on Lian Yu and in Starling City as she on instinct looked around for a weapon before Oliver managed to calm Slade down.

"Hey." Oliver turned to the warden. "Trust me on this one. Don't make this man angry."

The warden sighed. "They are called the Jackals, the man your son investigated. When they discovered his arrest, which was merely him being in the wrong place at the wrong time, they broke into prison. Take him."

"Why did they take him?" Slade inquired.

"Torture. Your son is a spy." The warden explained. "In his head, secrets worth millions. They threatened reprisal on my family if I spoke about it."

Slade walked away, making up his mind.

"Slade." Oliver called out.

"When the Jackals took my son, they didn't count on who his father was." Slade growled.

* * *

_**Later, hotel** _

"I asked Felicity for any intel she could find on the Jackals. She hacked the database of every major intelligence agency in the world." Oliver said, entering with a tablet, drinking from a glass, while Slade was putting on his Deathstroke suit and gear.

"And what did she find?" Slade inquired.

"Nothing. These guys are ghosts." Oliver explained as Slade looked at the tablet.

"Well, that's no help." Slade drawled.

"This is." Oliver said as he took a drink and showed Slade the footage. "Using closed circuit cameras in the prison and surrounding areas, she got their escape route, the license plates and then using keyhole satellite technology…"

"…she tracked them to one location." Slade finished.

"Yes, she did." Oliver said.

"What's in there for us?" Sara asked, turning to Slade's backpack.

"Nothing." Slade said. "I promised you your only part in this was talking."

"Circumstances have changed." Oliver insisted.

"Not for you two." Slade told him. "You've got your feet planted in one world and you should keep them there."

"Slade, these Jackals are the best of the worst, alright? They are stone-cold killers." Oliver reminded.

"What do you think I am?" Slade asked as he loaded his gun.

"That you're out of practice and that you can't take them all on alone." Sara explained. "Look, I may not be fully ready to move past what's happened between us but that doesn't mean I want to see you get yourself killed, Slade."

"Sara's right, we are not letting you do this alo-" Suddenly, Oliver felt dizzy and slumped to a chair and passed out.

"Alone is what I do best, kid." Slade said before Oliver closed his eyes.

"What did you do to him?" Sara demanded.

"Don't worry about him. He'll wake up soon enough." Slade said.

Sara realized what he did, when she turned to the glass of water, remembering what he had done to them on Lian Yu as he walked away.

* * *

A few hours later, Oliver came to, lying on the chair before he saw a note on the table and Oliver recognized Slade's handwriting, while he noticed that Sara had been lying on the bed the whole time, staring up on the ceiling.

" _GO HOME, KID. BE A FATHER. THANK YOU FOR REMINDING ME I'M ONE, TOO._ " Oliver read.

"I guess he hasn't changed that much." Sara noted, remembering how he had drugged them back on Lian Yu as Oliver put the note down. "Ollie, I get that you want to help him and that you don't want to give up on him and I know this time it's different since it's not the Mirakuru but… honestly, what right do we have in his way? I'm just saying, you can't help someone, who doesn't want your help."

Oliver's phone rang as he answered the call. "Hey, buddy."

" _I just want to check in._ " William said. " _Is this a bad time?_ "

"It's never a bad time." Oliver assured him.

" _Are you coming home?_ " William asked.

"As a matter of fact, I am." Oliver nodded.

" _Good, I wish you were here already. Raisa's been making me eat granola all weekend._ " William sighed in relief.

Oliver chuckled. "Raisa knows her stuff. Granola's good for you."

" _Were you able to help your friend?_ " William asked.

"No, I wasn't." Oliver admitted.

" _I really hope he finds his son._ " William told him.

"Yeah. I do too." Oliver said.

" _Is there anything else you can do for him?_ " William said and Oliver considered.

"Maybe." Oliver hung up.

"What?" Sara questioned, noticing the look in Oliver's eyes. "You're not going after him, are you? I told you, he doesn't want our help."

"Starling City didn't want my help, when I came back but it needed it." Oliver reminded. "I can't give up on him, Sara. Not again. I won't walk away, when he might need me the most."

Sara stopped, remembering she left, when Oliver needed her the most.

"I already gave up on you and him once before, I'm not gonna make that mistake again." Oliver said. Sara looked stunned as she saw the pain in Oliver's eyes. "I know you think he might be too far gone… there was a time I thought that about you too. But you found your way back. I need to believe he can too."

Sara stood there, considering Oliver's words.

* * *

_**Elsewhere** _

Two Jackals were playing cards before from the chest of one of them suddenly stuck out a blade and he fell down dead.

"Who's in charge?" Deathstroke demanded. The other Jackal got up and reached for his gun but Deathstroke pulled out his Uzi, starting to shoot down the Jackals in his way. Around the corner, Deathstroke sliced down another Jackal as another one of them tried to shoot him but did not penetrate Deathstroke's armor. Deathstroke rushed at him and slammed him to a wall before shooting him in the stomach. He cut another Jackal in his legs as he neared Deathstroke and Deathstroke shot him dead as he fell against the shelves. Another Jackal shot Deathstroke in the helmet, causing for Deathstroke to fall down. Deathstroke got up and stabbed the Jackal in his chest and kicked him against a wall before pummeling him with his Uzi.

Two more Jackals went out from another corridor as Deathstroke used his arm to cover his eye, while the bullets bounced off his armor. They turned around and retreated into the armory, picking other weapons before another Jackal burst through the door, falling down as Deathstroke rushed in and grabbed one of the Jackals by his arm and threw him down, while shooting the other Jackal with his Uzi. Another Jackal engaged Deathstroke but Deathstroke sliced him in the chest and grabbed him by his neck before shooting other Jackal and kicking him in the chest as the Jackal fell down. Another Jackal rushed at Deathstroke, shooting at him with his gun but Deathstroke stabbed him in the chest and shot him in the hip with his Uzi before pulling out his sword.

Deathstroke burst into a gym area, kicking another Jackal back and shooting him before he kicked him against shelve as it collapsed. Another Jackal pulled out his gun and engaged Deathstroke but Deathstroke stabbed him in the stomach and slammed him against a table before slicing him down. Another Jackal rushed at Deathstroke but Deathstroke slashed him in the throat and kicked him against another shelve with food as it crashed. Deathstroke cut another Jackal in the feet as he stood on the table, as the Jackal fell down. Another Jackal rushed at Deathstroke, whacking him in the head with his pistol, to no avail before Deathstroke sliced him down.

Slade put down his mask while Nylander and the remaining Jackals surrounded him, aiming their guns at him.

"Stop it. Stop." Nylander instructed. "Damn it, Slade, you're going to ruin my new shoes and I just bought them, brother."

"Nylander." Slade growled.

"This man is a legend, so no pulling triggers… yet." Nylander neared Slade and held his hand in which he had his sword. "Truce? Let me explain." He picked Slade's sword and patted him on his shoulder.

"I knew you'd be involved, Nylander but you're stupid to run this organization." Slade pointed out as he sat down at a table. "So, where's the boss?"

"You know, I had really hoped prison would be your dead end but no. You just had to keep on coming, didn't you?" Nylander drawled. "We've got a great thing going here, Slade. Lots of killing, lots of money and your son… what he knows… priceless."

"You like burning bridges." Slade said and Nylander laughed.

"So says the man, who nearly burnt down a whole city!"

Slade reached for a gun on the floor but one of the Jackals fired a warning shot, causing for Slade to pull back.

"You're smarter than that, kamrat."

Slade got up on his feet with some difficulty due to exhaustion and injuries as he limped towards Nylander. "Where… is my son?" Slade growled.

"Why do you ask, hmm?" Nylander challenged. "Do you wish to join him?"

* * *

Oliver and Sara snuck into the Jackal's lair as they saw the massacre Slade had left behind.

One of the Jackals engaged Oliver but Oliver quickly disarmed him of his gun and threw him down, knocking him out.

* * *

"I'm curious, Slade, what was your plan?" Nylander questioned. "Kill us all and save your boy? Kind of reductive, no?"

"I like to keep things simple." Slade said.

"Ah, things rarely are, brother." Nylander taunted.

"Well, this is. I will join the Jackals as long as you let my boy go." Slade proposed.

Nylander chuckled. "It's like I said, things aren't so simple. We need your son. After all, he's our boss."

Oliver and Sara watched from the shadows as to their and Slade's shock stepped out from the shadows a young man, whose face resembled Slade's slightly and Slade was unable to believe the news about who was the leader of the Jackals.

"Hello, father." Kane said, with sheathed sword on his back and holding an Uzi. "It's been a long time."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what do you guys think?
> 
> Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.


	13. Promises kept

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Slade reunites with his son but the reunion is not as pleasant as he had hoped it would be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or the CW TV shows Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl or any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.

Oliver and Sara observed from the shadows the situation, as Slade was reuniting himself with his son.

"You should've stayed dead." Joe, now calling himself "Kane", sneered as his men aimed their weapons at him.

"I heard you were in trouble, kid, so I thought I'd offer my help." Slade explained.

"My old man here to save me." Joe said, amused. "Last I saw, you weren't all that concerned with saving anyone." He pulled out a gun, aiming at Slade's face. "Apple doesn't fall that far." Joe turned to Nylander, considering. "What do you think? Patricide?"

"He's seen our operation, it makes him a liability." Nylander pointed out.

"Yeah, you can have that choice but I'll give you another one. Let me join you." Slade offered, much to everyone's shock, Oliver's and Sara's included.

"If I wanted a family reunion, I would've sent an invitation." Joe snapped, nearing the gun to Slade's face.

"Maybe you did but you just haven't realized it yet, kid." Slade said, approaching Joe, with the barrel of the gun very closely to Slade's eye. "See, I came all this way to speak with you and I will kill anybody, who gets in my way because I got nothing left to lose, only you. So, go ahead and make a decision."

Oliver and Sara were sure that Joe was going to shoot Joe before it seemed that Joe considered before holstering his gun. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't swayed by the poetry of it all but can I trust you?"

Oliver picked two radios from a stand before hiding.

"Trust is built upon honesty. I am sure you have a lot of questions to ask me and I've got a lot of questions for you, Joe." Slade said.

"That's not my name anymore." Joe shook his head.

"Your mother named you something different to keep us apart." Slade pointed out and Joe considered again.

"OK." Joe nodded. "Guess we've got some catching up to do." Joe left as Slade was finally given a moment of peace.

* * *

Slade followed Joe into some private quarters as Slade sat down.

"Excuse the poor accommodations, I don't plan on staying in this stain of a country too long." Joe said.

"Well, there's a reason they say the money is in the muck." Slade drawled.

"I did bring one luxury, however." Joe picked a bottle of Australian rum and put it on table.

"Oh, there's a blast from the past, my favorite." Slade smiled as he examined the bottle, while Joe picked two glasses and put them on table. "I never realized you'd acquired a taste for it too."

"Like you told me, ' _Always drink good booze and only look out for yourself._ '" Joe reminded.

"Well, the Jackals are an unruly bunch. Must have been hard trying to keep A.S.I.S. in the dark for so long." Slade pointed out as he poured himself a glass of rum.

"It's amazing what an agency overlooks, when it's willing to leave its own men for dead." Joe smiled as Slade chuckled as he put the glass on the table.

"So, what kind of operation are you planning on running here? Drugs? Weapons? Perhaps a military coup." Slade said as he examined his sword.

"Let's call it a reassignment of resources. A lucrative one." Joe said cryptically before they both toasted.

* * *

"So, you and your boy, one big happy family again, huh?" Nylander said.

"That's none of your business but he told me about your new job, the reassignment of resources. Tell me about that." Slade requested bluntly as he followed Nylander.

"Well, if the boss didn't think to tell you, then it means it's none of your business, kamrat. Meeting hall, 30 minutes." Nylander ordered before leaving.

Slade was about to investigate the Jackals more before he heard a whisper behind him.

"Slade." Oliver said quietly as Slade turned around, seeing him and Sara hiding in the shadows.

"What are you two doing here? You should've gone home." Slade reminded.

"I don't abandon people, even when they leave me drugged. Now, what is this reassignment of resources that your son and his men are planning?" Oliver demanded.

"You overheard that." Slade realized.

"Just like we overheard that you want to join them. Your son is dangerous, Slade." Sara pointed out.

"He's just a younger version of me." Slade argued.

"No, you were never a gun for hire." Oliver protested.

"But I was a killer." Slade reminded. "Listen, you two better go home before you find yourselves into trouble you can't get out of."

"I can't walk away from this. Can you?" Oliver pointed out and Slade found no answer to this and his face showed no hint of any indicating emotion.

* * *

"I don't know, Ollie." Sara said. "I know you want to help him but—"

"I'm not giving up on him again, Sara." Oliver said. "You of all people should understand."

Sara sighed, not meaning to pry but it still left her to wonder. "It's just that… how far will we have to go this time to save him from himself?"

Oliver was silent, dreading to find the answer to that question.

* * *

"Feeling at home yet, Slade?" Nylander teased as the Jackals were eating lunch and Slade was taking a drink. "Or should I call you ' _Deathstroke_ '?" Slade shot Nylander a glare.

"Slight change in plans, gentlemen." Joe said as he entered. "40% of our Semtex was compromised during transfer. Conveniently, however, the Kasnian army is doing some transferring of its own. I'm gonna take a small team to intercept."

"Does this jeopardize our timeline?" Nylander inquired.

"Not with the infamous Deathstroke backing me up. What do you say, father, interested in showing us how it's done?" Joe asked.

"As long as your dogs can keep up. I'll go pack some gear." Slade quipped before turning to the weapons in the corner. He knelt down and discreetly spoke into the radio Oliver had given him. "Hey, kid."

"Comms are working." Oliver said.

"Kane has me making a run for Semtex." Slade explained.

"That's a high-yield explosive." Oliver realized.

"Yeah, with Nylander involved, I should've expected it." Slade said.

"Well, he'll probably be handling the detonator." Oliver pointed out.

"If you can find the receiver, perhaps you can corrupt it. It might be in Nylander's gear." Slade suggested.

"Yeah, we're on it. You good?" Oliver asked.

"Just find the receiver." Slade ordered, ignoring Oliver's question before hanging up as Oliver sighed and Sara groaned.

"Still a stubborn bastard." Sara muttered.

* * *

Later, Slade went out from an SUV as the Jackals set the spikes on the road as Joe handed Slade his Deathstroke helmet. "I always knew you'd end up wearing this." Joe said with a pride before they heard an engine running and tires squealing and saw a military truck drive down the road. "Kill the lights." Joe ordered as Slade was putting on his helmet.

The truck's tires deflated as the vehicle skidded to stop. The Jackals opened fire on the soldiers as they were getting off the vehicle and Slade kneecapped one of the soldiers, causing for him to fall down.

"We don't leave witnesses." Joe said as he approached the soldier, who was crawling on the ground. Joe pulled out his sword and the soldier turned around as Joe drove the blade through the soldier's chest and Slade involuntarily stepped back, disturbed by his son's ruthlessness and brutality.

* * *

In the Jackals' hideout, Oliver and Sara were making their way to Nylander's quarters before they heard footsteps as they noticed the Jackals on patrol. Oliver and Sara hid above, hanging on the pipes on the ceiling before they jumped down on the Jackals, knocking each of them out as Oliver found blueprints and a detonator on a nearby table. He examined the blueprints, not noticing that Nylander had showed up from around a corner, seeing Oliver.

* * *

"So, what are you going to do with all these explosives? I'd like to know." Slade inquired as Joe was examining one of the crates with Semtex as they were back in the Jackals' hideout.

"You missed your kill shot with the soldier back there." Joe pointed out.

"Well, when I lost this eye, I lost my depth perception." Slade argued.

"Most of my men think you joined me under false pretenses." Joe said bluntly.

"There's nothing false about trying to find my son. But if they doubt me, then maybe I don't have your trust, Joe." Slade defended.

"Of course you do, which is why I got you a little gift." Joe said cryptically, leaving Slade a brief moment to wonder what Joe had done before Nylander approached them with Oliver in restraints.

"You told me _not_ to worry, brother." Nylander said as he forced Oliver on his knees.

"Nylander found him with my detonator. Some might see this as coincidence but I see it as fate. It's time to collect on that debt he owes you, father." Joe egged as Slade turned to Oliver with a murdering glare.

"Oliver Queen. I've waited a very, _very_ long time for this." Slade said, trying to sound as murderous as possible before he knocked Oliver out.

"An eye for an eye." Joe said gleefully to Slade's ear and Slade did his best _not_ to show how increasingly disturbing his son's behavior was becoming to Slade with every moment passing by.

* * *

When Oliver came to, he saw the tip of Slade's sword inches away from his right eye before realizing he was bound to a chair.

"Years ago, I made you a promise. Do you remember?" Slade said. "I promised you that you would suffer the same way that I suffered."

"What are you doing? You are not this person anymore." Oliver reminded, trying to reach his friend as he noticed that there was something off about Slade's behavior.

"What I am is a father reunited with my son." Slade neared Oliver. "I made him a promise too and I'm not going to break it again."

"We made each other a promise, Slade. To save our sons! To save Joe, to save William." Oliver pleaded as he saw something flicker in Slade's eye as the latter seemed to hesitate.

"He has a son." Joe said gleefully. "I'll make sure he suffers too."

Slade unperceptively shivered at the thought, disturbed by how the situation was escalating. He went behind Oliver, raising his sword, seemingly to deliver a killing blow.

"Slade." Oliver pleaded.

"Do it." Joe ordered.

"Slade! Slade!" Oliver tried reaching him.

Sara jumped down from above, knocking Joe on the floor as Slade, with a grunt, cut Oliver's restraints as he got up.

"That was a little too convincing." Oliver turned to Slade.

"No kidding. For a moment I really thought you were actually gonna do it." Sara said, showing a knife in her hand.

"We gotta go, come on." Oliver ordered as Slade picked his helmet, while Oliver shot down the Jackals with an SMG as they made their way out from the Jackals' hideout.

They took cover behind ammunition crates as more Jackals showed up, shooting at them.

"There's no way out." Slade said.

"We'll make our own way, come on!" Oliver ordered as they rushed towards a nearby window and jumped through it as the glass shattered.

Joe and Nylander checked outside but Oliver, Sara and Slade had managed to escape in the meantime.

"I'll send out the dogs." Nylander said.

"We've got the op." Joe said, spitting out some blood. "That's where they'll be."

"You sure?" Nylander asked.

"That my father would try to stop us? That's what fathers do. And that's why I'm gonna kill him." Joe vowed.

* * *

"Before they captured me, I saw what Kane was going after. They're attacking the water supply, it's a death sentence for half the country." Oliver said as he approached a car, picking a lock. "If we move now, we'll be able to stop them." Then he noticed that Slade had not said a word since their escape. "If that's what you want."

Slade turned around to face them. "I spared your life back there." He reminded.

"I know but back there it didn't feel like an act like it did the same way with Chase back on Lian Yu." Oliver pointed out.

"Because when I saw my son, I was tempted." Slade snapped. "I would've done anything to keep us together. But when you mentioned William, I realized that's not my boy. It's Kane. But what I fear is there is only one way to stop him."

Oliver and Sara looked disturbed by Slade's thinking.

"Slade… would you… you can't kill your own son." Sara said, shocked at Slade's line of thinking, thinking he never would have gone that far even with the Mirakuru in him.

"Slade, there are other ways to deal with this that don't involve killing your son. Deep down, he's your boy, so you have to reason with him and I _swear_ , he will listen to you." Oliver assured him.

"But I didn't tell you what happened after Lian Yu." Slade admitted, ashamed.

"What happened, then?" Sara inquired, curious.

"I went home to my son and I promised him that I would stay and never leave and I broke that promise." Slade said, ashamed.

"No, you broke that promise because of the Mirakuru." Oliver pointed out.

"The Mirakuru faded for a while but when it came back, it was like a storm I could not control. And that monster is what my son is trying to emulate and that monster is what my son is trying to emulate. But it's not Mirakuru with Joe, it's anger and resentment and I don't know how that can be redeemed." Slade said and Sara realized that Slade was going through similar struggle she had gone once, being a member of the League of Assassins and avoiding her own family.

"Well, I didn't think that you could be redeemed but I'm here, miles away from my son, trying to help you save yours and I'm doing that because I knew the man you were before the Mirakuru. And I can do that because I knew the man you were before the Mirakuru. That is who Joe needs to see, he needs to see his father, the man you are, right now, tonight."

"Laurel and Dad wouldn't give up on me either. Even, when I wanted to give up on myself." Sara said.

Oliver nodded. "I already gave up on you both once. That's not happening again. _Ever_ again."

* * *

In the water plant, Joe and the Jackals were getting ready as Nylander was setting the detonator.

"Where are we?" Joe asked.

"All charges are set." Nylander handed the detonator to Joe. "Feels like it should be you."

"I hired _you_ to pull the trigger." Joe pointed out before giving orders to the Jackals. "Move out! Get to a safe distance!" The Jackals left as he turned to Nylander again. "Semtex makes for a pretty big bang."

"You're not coming with?" Nylander asked.

"I want a good view." Joe replied.

Nylander laughed. "You're crazy. I love it. Don't forget what you said about the Semtex, huh?"

Joe's instincts turned on as he realized that Slade had been trying to sneak up on him as he turned around to face his father. "I knew you'd show up. I think we had ourselves an honest talk."

* * *

Outside, the Jackals were about to set charges in the plant, when they heard gunshots and saw Oliver shooting at them from behind a pillar. Nylander and some Jackals moved to continue their operation as the remaining Jackals opened fire at him and Sara. Oliver shot one of them and grabbed him, using him as a human shield as Oliver rushed forward as he shot down some Jackals.

Sara grabbed the rifle of another Jackal that neared her and stabbed him in the chest with her knife before she jumped at another, wrapping her legs around his neck and knocking him down before she hit another one in his face and grabbed him by his arm, throwing him over her back.

* * *

"' _Trust begins with honesty._ '" Joe reminded as he and Slade circled each other, exchanging glares. "That's what you said to me but you lied!"

"You know life is not that simple, Joe." Slade reasoned.

"That's not my name!" Joe snapped. "And how could you forgive Oliver Queen after what he did to you?!" He demanded, not understanding.

"Because he forgave me for far worse, sins that I have to carry to the grave! A curse I didn't want to pass onto you! All of this anger and resentment, it's time to bring it to an end, son!" Slade shouted.

"No. This is just the beginning!" Joe drew his sword and engaged his father, who pulled out his own sword, blocking Joe's strike.

* * *

Oliver shot down a Jackal and pulled out his knife as another Jackal rushed at him but Oliver dodged and stabbed him in the back. Sara dodged as one of the Jackals engaged her and she grabbed him by his arm and kicked him in the leg, knocking him down. Another Jackal tried to attack Oliver but Oliver pulled the knife out from the Jackal he had stabbed and stabbed the other Jackal in the chest before Oliver blocked strikes of more Jackals engaging him and stabbing them, taking them down.

Sara blocked the punches of one of the Jackals and kicked him in the chest and threw him down before she jumped and kicked another one in the head, knocking him down. Another Jackal rushed at her, throwing a punch but Sara grabbed his arm and broke it.

Oliver neared Nylander as they were in a standoff, with Oliver aiming his gun at Nylander, who was holding the detonator.

* * *

Joe pushed Slade into an area of catwalks as they resumed their fight. Slade dodged Joe's strike as they were clashing with their swords again. Joe blocked and dodged as he and Slade continued to exchange strikes. They dodged and blocked the attacks of each other before switching positions. Slade blocked Joe's attacks with his sword before using his arm, attempting to shove Joe back but Joe managed to push Slade back as he realized that his father was holding back, which only infuriated Joe.

"You used to be ruthless! What happened?!" Joe demanded as their swords crossed.

"What you saw, was the Mirakuru." Slade grunted.

"Stop lying!" Joe roared, pushing Slade back. "I saw you kill before the Mirakuru!" He rushed at Slade but Slade grabbed Joe by his arm, flipping him over his back as Joe hit the ground, grunting as he tried to get up before Slade neared the blade to his son's throat. "Milford Sound." Joe said and Slade paled, realizing what Joe had seen. "That little father/son trip. The one you promised would be all about you and me. I saw what you did to that Chinese spy."

"I was on a mission for A.S.I.S." Slade explained.

"Here's something you don't know. Something mother never told you. I have a brother. His name is Grant. Mother didn't want him in this world." Slade looked shocked at the news as Joe used that to get up on his feet. "But me, I'm my father's son. I made my first kill six months after our camping trip and I slit his throat. Just like you did!" He slugged Slade in his face as he fell down. "I wanted to be exactly like my father! Like Deathstroke!"

As Slade's vision cleared, while he was on his knees, Slade stared at his son, seeing the fury and ruthlessness in his eyes, realizing what his son had become due to Slade's actions, unintentionally pushing him down this path because of Mirakuru.

Slade put his sword to Joe's feet in an attempt to reason with him, not wanting to continue to fight. "I am not Deathstroke anymore."

Joe seemed to be on verge of tears as Slade hoped he had finally reached his son.

"Then you're not my father anymore." Joe said as Slade's heart shattered. "You're just in my way!" He was about to deliver a killing blow before Oliver showed up, shooting Joe's sword off his hand.

"Don't move! Slade, you alright?!" Oliver yelled, aiming his gun at Joe.

"Oliver, lower your gun!" Slade pleaded, turning to him before turning his attention to Joe again.

"I wish that you'd stayed dead." Joe pulled out a flare and threw it down as Slade moved away, while Joe jumped down from the railing, vanishing into the night as Oliver and Slade stared at the spot, where his son had vanished, while Sara entered.

"What happened? Where is he?" Sara asked.

"He's gone…" Slade whispered, realizing his son had become a monster.

* * *

Slade was looking at the photo of himself and younger Joe on a phone as Sara approached him.

"That's your son?" Sara asked, looking at the photo.

"From Milford Sound. A lifetime ago." Slade nodded sadly.

Oliver hung up a call before approaching Slade. "I spoke to our friend, the warden. The Jackals are in custody and he is very relieved. You alright?"

"My son. He saw me kill a man before the Mirakuru. Before Deathstroke." Slade said sadly as he turned to Oliver. "He followed in my path, Oliver."

"No, don't blame yourself, Slade, it doesn't help." Oliver told him.

"You know why I do. ' _Never give up on family._ ' That's what you told me. It's time for both of you to go home." Slade said before he approached his car.

"What are you going to do?" Sara asked as Slade opened the trunk.

"I'm gonna keep searching for my son. Both of them." Slade said as he picked a duffel bag. "I can't give up."

Sara sighed and took a breath. "Slade… for what's it worth… I'm sorry." Slade raised his brows. "For everything. Amazo. Mirakuru. Ivo. Shado. All of it."

Slade nodded. "It's not me, who should forgive you. Like I told him…" Slade turned to Oliver. "You need to forgive yourself for your sins."

Sara sighed. "I'm trying. But it's not easy."

"You ever need our help, don't hesitate to ask." Oliver offered.

"You two have your own families to protect. I'm not gonna put that at risk again. You've seen what can happen." Slade said as he shook hand with Oliver and Sara. "Thank you, kid. And you too, Sara."

Slade moved past them as Oliver and Sara watched him vanish in the mist of the cold night.

Sara sighed. "Funny. Part of me had convinced myself that I'd have to kill him. Now I… now I just…"

"…feel sorry for him?" Oliver finished and Sara nodded.

"It's just that… we both have our families to protect. And I don't want to give up on either of us again." Oliver said.

"Us? Families? That's never been our bright spot, has it?" Sara asked.

"No. But we've been through a lot. Maybe too much to walk away from each other." Oliver said as they held hands.

"I guess it's time to go home." Sara said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I myself found Slade's send-off in Arrow among the best send-offs of the Arrowverse characters, unlike how they killed off Earth-1 Laurel for example, only to remove an obstacle for Olicity or the same with Sara leaving in 2x20 out of the sudden because of her inner darkness, but Guggenheim wanted to actually focus more on Oliver/Felicity. I might have given Olicity a pass in Season 6-7, due to Felicity being more mature and understandable and treating Oliver fairly, save for some understandable exceptions but I am never going to support it.
> 
> As for WestAllen, if not for the fact that Iris said in Season 5 that she didn't give a damn about what Thawne had done to Barry, when finding out that Nora had been working for him the whole time, I maybe (big MAYBE) would have kept an open mind. I'll admit, Iris is more tolerable and mature in Season 6 of The Flash and treats Barry more fairly and all the characters have equal focus and the show isn't solely focused on WestAllen unlike the previous seasons but if it hadn't been for the fact that Iris didn't care about Nora lying and what Thawne did to Barry, I would've been a little bit willing to give it a pass too.
> 
> I hope DCEU doesn't mishandle Deathstroke because I myself think that Deathstroke's arc in Titans show wasn't very compelling, even if he was a good villain. Playing mind games with Titans and getting them to dismantle the team because he blames them for the death of Slade's son Jericho (in Titans Joe Wilson was renamed "Jericho Wilson" and Jericho is Joe's codename in comic books), when Jericho sacrificed himself to protect Dick, that felt like a weak arc for someone like Deathstroke and while he was cunning, Esai Morales's portrayal wasn't as intimidating as Manu Bennett's but that's just my opinion.
> 
> One or two more chapters to go before the end and I am considering a sequel covering Crisis on Earth-X because I am dissatisfied by how I handled it in my first version and there are dozens of issues that bugged me in the crossover that I didn't address the first time around since I had other plans.
> 
> So, what do you guys think?
> 
> Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.


	14. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver and Sara repair broken bonds and sort out their buried feelings for each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or the CW TV shows Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl or any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.

_**Later, the Lair** _

Oliver entered the lair as he saw Roy, Diggle, Dinah, Felicity, Curtis and Rene talking.

"Damn, you whooped Onyx's ass like nothing, Hoss." Rene mused.

"She was good but we worked quite well together." Roy said. "Thanks for trusting me."

"I guess student surpasses the master, doesn't he?" Dinah teased.

"Honestly, bow and arrow are more your thing than mine, Roy." Diggle said as they drank.

"How have things been down here?" Oliver asked.

"Oh, we had to catch a terrorist bomber and rogue CIA black ops agent. Kind of got ugly but we got it." Roy summed up.

"I knew you could do this, Roy." Oliver said, smiling.

"I think there will always be only one original G.A. but… who knows… maybe there are good people, who can honor his legacy." Curtis said as Oliver and Roy went aside.

"Thank you." Oliver said.

"Are you kidding me? After all you've done for me, this was the least I could do. I'll be honest, I wasn't sure I could because I'm not a leader or the type of man they'd look up to but…"

"That's exactly why I wanted you to be the Green Arrow." Oliver said. "When I started, I thought I was nothing. I may have had money. I may have had my family, Laurel, Tommy but… they would always become targets because of what I had been through, unless I would fight for them by the skin of my teeth, just like I did during the five years I was gone. And you fought the same way every single day in the Glades, until I saved you. I don't see a better suited person to be the Green Arrow."

"What about you?" Roy asked. "I mean, this is who you've been for the last five years."

"I know. But it's time I was something else than the Green Arrow. Slade told me that I can't live in both worlds forever. And Samantha and William made me realize that my son needs me." Oliver said.

Dinah's phone went off as she answered the call. "Yeah? Uh-huh." She hung up. "Damn it."

"What is it?" Oliver asked.

"I've been so wrapped up with the Black Canary thing I forgot to catch this perp Captain Pike has been trying to take down for months." Dinah said. "Being a vigilante and a cop at once sucks, I'll tell you that."

"I guess I'm not the only one walking between two worlds." Oliver noted as he and Dinah chuckled.

"Look, Oliver, I'm trying to honor Laurel's legacy but this isn't something I can do. I mean, it's not easy." Dinah said. "I'm a cop. Always have been, always will be. We all know, who the real Canary is."

Oliver considered and nodded.

"If you need me, I'll be there." Dinah said as they shook hands.

* * *

_**Later, Quentin's apartment** _

Sara entered Quentin's apartment as he was cooking with Laurel.

"Hey." Sara said.

"Hey, honey." Quentin smiled.

"Hi." Laurel said as she faced Sara. "Dad…" She cleared her throat. "Quentin and the rest filled me in on what you've been through." She took a breath. A while back, she would not give a damn about Sara or her father's doppelganger at all… but now… after how they treated her like a member of a family, she felt like she owed them. "How have you been?"

"It's been rough. But I'm fine. I appreciate the concern." Sara said.

Laurel took a breath. "Were you… were you and your sister… close?"

"Not really. At least before the Gambit." Sara said. "But when I came back… when I…" She swallowed. "Died. Twice… After that, we've started to grow closer to each other than we've ever been as kids. Sometimes I wish we had more time. But I was too wrapped up in my own guilt, grief and afraid of that darkness inside of me that I bailed on everyone, even when they were trying to pull me back from that edge. And every day I wish I could have made a different choice. I wish that I had stayed."

Laurel considered. "Me and my sister were close. At least until I lost my Ollie and became Black Siren. Then it was just one bad decision after another." She admitted, ashamed of herself.

"And now you're here, wondering if you've got another lease and second chance, to build a better life for yourself, than you had, right?" Sara asked and Laurel hesitated before nodding.

"I'm just not sure if I'll ever find my way." Laurel said.

"Maybe the reason you doubt yourself is that you've been so long in the darkness that you got used to being alone, keeping everyone who cares about you and who you care about at arm's length and that you kept running from whatever could have brought you back to the light because you felt you didn't deserve it." Sara said, although it sounded as if she was talking about herself.

"What's your point?" Laurel asked.

"Maybe it's time to stop running… and take a leap of faith. The people, who love us, they can pull us back from that edge… if you let them. And I don't want to run anymore. What about you?" Sara asked.

Laurel took a breath, hesitant before they both sat down. "Tell me about Laurel. Your Laurel. What was she like?"

Sara considered and took a breath. "Well, she was kind, compassionate, often very naïve and stubborn and short-tempered and reckless…"

Laurel chuckled, seeing the similarities as she was talking with Sara.

* * *

_**Later, Oliver's apartment** _

"I think playtime is over." Samantha noted as Oliver and William stopped playing the game on TV, putting down the controllers.

"Thank you." Oliver said as he helped Samantha clean the dishes.

Samantha nodded. "Oliver, are you sure about this? I mean, the Green Arrow meant everything to you."

"I trust that Roy can honor my legacy. This city will always need heroes but it doesn't have to be only me." Oliver said.

"I'm sorry." Samantha said.

"For what?" Oliver asked.

"For thinking that you couldn't be William's father. But you've done more than I could ever ask from you to do for him." Samantha said.

"If he needs me, I'll be there." Oliver said as he hugged William. "Be seeing you, buddy."

"Bye, Dad." William smiled.

A little bit later after Samantha and William left, Oliver was watching TV, when Sara entered.

"Hey." Sara said.

"Hi." Oliver said.

"How have things been with William?" Sara asked.

"As well as they can be." Oliver said as they sat down.

"A lot of things both of us have to figure out with our families, right?" Sara mused.

"Yeah." Oliver nodded as she sighed.

"Sometimes I wish I had stayed here." Sara said. "But… I had convinced myself I was better off fighting with my own demons alone, rather than let you help me. There have been nights, when I wish I had stayed. Maybe your Mom would still be alive."

"Slade said that you can't dwell on what might have been." Oliver said. "You shouldn't have too many regrets."

"I know. There are times, when it feels like lifetime ago and I don't bother myself with it. Sometimes it feels like yesterday and it hurts like hell." Sara said.

"I know. But you need to forgive yourself." Oliver said.

"That's what I keep trying to do every day." Sara said as he held her hand.

"That's because you've been trying to do things on your own. What I'm trying to say is, you don't have to be alone anymore, Sara. I'm here for you. I haven't given up on you and I never will." Oliver said as she turned to him. Neither of them knew who moved first but few moments later they neared their lips as Sara unbuttoned Oliver's shirt, while he took off her top and unclipped her bra as they laid down on the couch, giving into each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked the arcs in this story. I myself have highly enjoyed writing this story until the end and I hope you have enjoyed reading it. Nowadays I have more Oliver/Sara plot bunnies rather than Oliver/E-1 Laurel or Oliver/E-2 Laurel but I still intend to write stories with Oliver with either of the Lance sisters.
> 
> At this point, I'm mixed about Dinah Drake. I kept an open mind around her in Season 5, despite that it was some lame attempt at appeasing the fans outraged about Earth-1 Laurel's death and what Felicity did with Black Siren in 5x10, which BTW was freaking stupid and Guggenheim's stupid Felicity pandering and I don't think she's worthy of being BC.
> 
> I think Dinah was a fine character in Season 5 but Season 6 ruined her with the revelation of her lover Vince being Vigilante and it's quite stupid that Dinah bought his bullshit regarding criminals, when Oliver had more or less set her straight in Season 5 and Season 6 also ruined her, when she tried to kill Black Siren and got Thea and Quentin into crossfire for killing Vince, when Black Siren had shown more redeeming qualities than Vince, such as regaining some of her humanity and growing fond of Quentin, unlike Vince, who showed almost no redeeming qualities, save for some double agent stuff which wasn't all that good, plus don't forget that Vigilante always disregarded collateral damage and getting civilians caught into crossfire.
> 
> Whether it really was Vince or not, after becoming the Black Canary, Dinah would try to stop Vigilante, whoever it was, IMO but her siding with Vince was more of the Oliver hate and stupid drama from MG/WM's side.
> 
> And I think it's a little dumb that Oliver would try to recruit a bloodthirsty vigilante out on revenge, while trying to talk her out on her vendetta, plus her joining Oliver's crusade freshly after ending her vendetta sounds a little stupid. Hasn't Oliver learned from what happened with Helena? * face palm *
> 
> Dinah seemed like an OK character though in Season 5 and at least the first half of Seasons 6 and 7, so I'm mixed about her, however, I wonder whether she would actually accept Oliver's offer freshly after she avenged Vince. While Oliver would offer to help her, I doubt she would quickly accept his offer and instead would go for some soul searching and self-healing like what Oliver and Sara have done.
> 
> Now, I am considering writing a sequel covering Crisis on Earth-X, since I'm not proud of my first take on the crossover, plus there are several issues I had with the actual crossover that I did not cover in the first version, since I had other plans for the sequels that did not work out with me fixing those issues.
> 
> Honestly, I think that Elseworlds, Crisis on Earth-X and Crisis on Infinite Earths are probably the worst crossovers in Arrowverse because of a lot of Oliver hate, fan-service and pandering, plus Oliver charging forward at the Shadow Demons in Part 1 of COIE and not giving him death scene was so stupid but I'll admit, at least they treated Oliver with more respect in the back half of the crossover but what was done to Kevin Conroy was an insult. Elseworlds I just didn't find very compelling crossover and there was some minor Olicity and WestAllen drama that annoyed me but not as much as in Crisis on Earth-X.
> 
> If I decide to write a sequel, it might take a while and I'll try to make COEX more realistic, so stay tuned.
> 
> So, what do you guys think?
> 
> Please review and let me know if you have enjoyed the story to its end.
> 
> With regards
> 
> Bl4ckHunter


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